Biological oceanographer Ken Dunton, a professor at The University of Texas at Austin Marine Science Institute, has been leading long-term studies in the western Arctic Ocean near Alaska. Both he and Drs. Jacqueline M. Grebmeier from University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and John H. Trefry from Florida Institute of Technology are guest editors for a newly released Special Issue of Deep-Sea Research Part II related to the Hanna Shoal Ecosystem of the Northeastern Chukchi Sea sponsored by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).
The publication is based on research funded by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s Environmental Studies Program, with partial support of ship operations provided by Shell Exploration and Production, between 2011 and 2017. The special issue contains 14 articles by leading scientists on this ecosystem, and expands upon four years of previous BOEM-funded research of the northeast Chukchi Sea. General topics addressed include water circulation around Hanna Shoal and implications for zooplankton; sediment and water column chemistry; and abiotic and biotic linkages between species ranging from benthic invertebrates to marine mammals.
The publication is available through ScienceDirect.com, Deep Sea Research II, Volume 144, 2017. For more information on related BOEM studies, visit the Environmental Studies Program Information System.
