Hurricane Katrina Winds Measured By a Buoy-Mounted Sonic Anemometer

The eye of Hurricane Katrina passed within 49 n mi of an oceanographic observing system buoy in the Mississippi Bight that is part of the Central Gulf of Mexico Ocean Observing System. Although a mechanical anemometer failed on the buoy during the hurricane, a two-axis sonic anemometer survived and provided a complete record of the hurricane\u27s passage. This is the first reported case of a sonic anemometer surviving a hurricane and reporting validated data, and it demonstrates that this type of anemometer is a viable alternative to the mechanical anemometers traditionally used in marine applications. The buoy pitch and roll record during the storm show the importance of compensating the anemometer records for winds oblique to the horizontal plane of the anemometers. This is made apparent in the comparison between the two wind records from the anemometers during the hurricane

Behavioral thermoregulation and slowed migration by adult fall Chinook salmon in response to high Columbia River water temperatures

The relationships between lower Columbia River water temperatures and migration rates, temporary tributary use, and run timing of adult fall Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha were studied using historical counts at dams and recently collected radiotelemetry data. The results from more than 2,100 upriver bright fall Chinook salmon radio-tagged over 6 years (1998, 2000-2004) showed that mean and median migration rates through the lower Columbia River slowed significantly when water temperatures were above about 20 degrees C. Slowed migration was strongly associated with temporary use of tributaries, which averaged 2-7 degrees C cooler than the main stem. The proportion of radio-tagged salmon using tributaries increased exponentially as Columbia River temperatures rose within the year, and use was highest in the warmest years. The historical passage data showed significant shifts in fall Chinook salmon run timing distributions concomitant with Columbia River warming and consistent with increasing use of thermal refugia. Collectively, these observations suggest that Columbia River fall Chinook salmon predictably alter their migration behaviors in response to elevated temperatures. Coolwater tributaries appear to represent critical habitat areas in warm years, and we recommend that both main-stem thermal characteristics and areas of refuge be considered when establishing regulations to protect summer and fall migrants

Physiological correlates of coastal arrival and river entry timing in late summer Fraser River sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka)

Animal migrations typically occur within a predictable time frame and sequence, but little is known about the triggers that initiate migration, despite their importance in animal ecology and for resource management. The migration of adult sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) in the Fraser River, British Columbia, Canada, is an excellent model to study such triggers because for nearly a decade a segment of the late summer stocks has been proceeding into the river as much as 6 weeks earlier than the historic norm. In this study, late-run sockeye salmon (N = 146) were intercepted about 215 km from the mouth of the Fraser River and implanted with radio transmitters. These fish were biopsied, which included drawing blood from the caudal vessels, removing some gill filament tips, and quantifying energetic status using a microwave energy meter. Fish that entered the river without delaying in the estuary were in a more advanced state of reproductive maturation, as evidenced by hormone and energy levels. Indicators of osmoregulatory preparedness (i.e., plasma ions and gill Na-super-+/K-super-+-ATPase activity) provided little insight into migration timing aside from greater variation in Na-super-+/K-super-+-ATPase activity in fish that entered early relative to those that held in the ocean. Given the dissimilar reproductive hormone profiles for early arrival into the estuary and early entry into the Fraser River, it appears that only a subset of the population are early migrants and triggers for early migration may be related to a relatively advanced reproductive development and higher energetic status. These findings provide the first assessment of the physiological correlates of migration timing and provide a mechanistic understanding of the proximate factors associated with abnormal migration timing in late-run sockeye salmon. Copyright 2008, Oxford University Press.