(No DOI)
Raw CTD data from the Integrated Ecosystem Programme: Southern Benguela (IEP:SB) on the Algoa Voyage 214, February 2015

This is raw Conductivity, Temperature, Depth (CTD) data from the Integrated Ecosystem Programme: Southern Benguela (IEP:SB) on Algoa Voyage 214 in the South-East Atlantic Ocean from 16 to 25 February, 2015. The Integrated Ecosystem Programme is a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional platform to undertake relevant science in the Southern Benguela; also functioning as a platform for collaboration and learning. All projects aim to develop an ecosystem indicator that can be used to effectively monitor and understand the Southern Benguela i.e physical, chemical, planktonic, microbial, seabird and benthic ecosystem indicators, used for ecosystem-based management.

DOI: 10.15493/DEA.MIMS.37072024
Processed CTD continuous observations from the Pelagic Pre-Recruit Mesopelagic Biomass Survey on the Africana Voyage 090, March 1991

Here we present processed downcast Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) continuous data collected between 05 and 19 March 1991, during voyage 090 on the FRS Africana, in the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME) region on the west coast of Southern Africa. Neil Brown MK3 and MK4 CTD instruments were used to measure pressure, temperature and conductivity through the water column during research and monitoring cruises between 1983 and 2000.

DOI: 10.15493/DEA.MIMS.38072024
Processed CTD discrete observations from the Pelagic Pre-Recruit Mesopelagic Biomass Survey on the Africana Voyage 090, March 1991

Here we present processed Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) discrete data from the upcast collected between 05 and 19 March 1991, during voyage 090 on the FRS Africana, in the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME) region on the west coast of Southern Africa. Neil Brown MK3 and MK4 CTD instruments were used to measure pressure, temperature and conductivity through the water column during research and monitoring cruises between 1983 and 2000.

DOI: 10.15493/DEA.MIMS.34072024
Processed CTD continuous observations from the Plankton Dynamics on the Africana Voyage 089, February 1991

Here we present processed downcast Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) continuous data collected between 12 and 23 February 1991, during voyage 089 on the FRS Africana, in the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME) region on the west coast of Southern Africa. Neil Brown MK3 and MK4 CTD instruments were used to measure pressure, temperature and conductivity through the water column during research and monitoring cruises between 1983 and 2000.

DOI: 10.15493/DEA.MIMS.35072024
Processed CTD discrete observations from the Plankton Dynamics on the Africana Voyage 089, February 1991

Here we present processed Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) discrete data from the upcast collected between 12 and 23 February 1991, during voyage 089 on the FRS Africana, in the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME) region on the west coast of Southern Africa. Neil Brown MK3 and MK4 CTD instruments were used to measure pressure, temperature and conductivity through the water column during research and monitoring cruises between 1983 and 2000.

DOI: 10.15493/DEA.MIMS.12072024
South Coast Demersal Biomass Survey on the Africana Voyage 082, May 1990

The South Coast Demersal Biomass Survey on the Africana Voyage 082 was conducted from 23 May - 13 June 1990. The objectives of the cruise were to survey by bottom-trawling the abundance of adult and recruiting hake, sole and other trawl target species; to make experimental bottom-trawls in deep water to establish the limit of hake distribution, and to collect deep-water specimens of fish and squid; to investigate the environment and ecological interrelationships of hake and other demersal species in the various depth strata; to study demersal community relationships; to investigate the occurrence, distribution and abundance of squid and squid larvae; to investigate the occurrence of line fish species in shallow waters; to study the biology of sharks and skates; to study the biology of kob; and to train senior staff and oceanographic research assistants.

DOI: 10.15493/DEA.MIMS.26072024
Processed CTD discrete observations from the West Coast Hake Biomass Survey on the Africana Voyage 084, July 1990

Here we present processed Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) discrete data from the upcast collected between 12 July and 06 August 1990, during voyage 084 on the FRS Africana, in the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME) region on the west coast of Southern Africa. Neil Brown MK3 and MK4 CTD instruments were used to measure pressure, temperature and conductivity through the water column during research and monitoring cruises between 1983 and 2000.

(No DOI)
SDS data from the Integrated Ecosystem Programme: Southern Benguela (IEP:SB) on the Algoa Voyage 214, February 2015

This is Scientific Data System (SDS) data from the Integrated Ecosystem Programme: Southern Benguela (IEP:SB) on Algoa Voyage 214 in the South-East Atlantic Ocean from 16 to 25 February, 2015. The Integrated Ecosystem Programme is a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional platform to undertake relevant science in the Southern Benguela; also functioning as a platform for collaboration and learning. All projects aim to develop an ecosystem indicator that can be used to effectively monitor and understand the Southern Benguela i.e physical, chemical, planktonic, microbial, seabird and benthic ecosystem indicators, used for ecosystem-based management.

(No DOI)
No Download
Raw weather data from the West Coast Cetacean Distribution and Abundance Survey on the Algoa Voyage 211, October 2014

This is raw weather data collected on the West Coast Cetacean Distribution and Abundance Survey on the Algoa Voyage 211, 28 October to 10 November 2014. The cruise operated on the shelf and slope regions off the West Coast of South Africa, between Dassen Island and Groenriviermond.The major objective of this cruise was to survey the abundance and distribution of cetaceans, in particular humpback whales, within the study area on the west coast. This objective, along with the research aims and proposed methodologies, are consistent with internationally accepted protocols. This work provided hands-on experience with logistical and technical cetacean specific problems associated with dedicated cetacean cruises. This work was a collaboration with the Mammal Research Institute, University of Pretoria, and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

(No DOI)
No Download
South African Weather Service (SAWS) data from the West Coast Cetacean Distribution and Abundance Survey on the Algoa Voyage 219, October 2015

This is South African Weather Service (SAWS) data from the West Coast Cetacean Distribution and Abundance Survey on the Algoa Voyage 219, 28 October to 06 November 2015. The cruise operated on the shelf and slope regions off the west coast of South Africa, between Dassen Island and Groenriviermond.This cruise was undertaken for data collection as part of a collaborative project led by the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) in collaboration with the Whale Unit, Mammal Research Institute of the University of Pretoria, Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (USA), Aqualie Institute (Brazil) and Oregon State University (USA). The greater programme is titled "The ecology of Humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae in South Africa" and has two components, the east coast and west coast components. This cruise focused on the west coast humpback whales.

DOI: 10.15493/dea.mims.26052253
No Download
West Coast Cetacean Distribution and Abundance Survey on the Ellen Kuzwayo Voyage 126, October 2014

This West Coast Cetacean Distribution and Abundance Survey was conducted on the Ellen Kuzwayo Voyage 126, from 28 October to 10 November, 2014. The survey was planned for the region between Dassen Island and Groenriviermond up the west coast. The cruise track of the Ellen Kuzwayo is closely linked to that of the Algoa and while the latter was engaged in offshore and onshore parallel tracks up to the 250m isobaths, the former ran a saw tooth grid survey starting inshore Dassen Island (moving progressively northwards) in-between the parallel grids of the Algoa up to the 150m isobaths (unless concentrations of whales were sighted further offshore by the Algoa). Surveys will be conducted at 10 knots unless weather conditions and safety required a reduction in speed. In such cases all the sightings will be recorded as secondary sightings. The data are currently being analysed and the authors will be publishing a paper on it once that is completed, after which it will be made available....

DOI: 10.15493/DEA.MIMS.01392023
SEAmester and Agulhas System Climate Array (ASCA) Scientific Cruise on the SA Agulhas II Voyage 052, June 2022

The SEAmester and Agulhas System Climate Array (ASCA) Scientific Cruise was conducted on the SA Agulhas II Voyage 052 from 27 June to 08 July 2022. The cruise operated from Cape Town to the ASCA transect (~ 34° S) off Hamburg in the Eastern Cape, South West Indian Ocean. The objective of the SEAmester cruise was to undertake the ASCA transect across the Agulhas Current and sample the 20 CTD stations done previously. In addition, SEAmester shallow (200 m) CTD training stations would take place each day at 10am and 4pm for the students. Due to the change of plans requested of the SEAmester team to undertake a medical evacuation at Marion Island, the science team opted to instead study a trapped lee-edge cyclonic eddy formed due to an early retroflection of the Agulhas Current. The timing of the cruise provided a unique opportunity to study a phenomena rarely occurring, and the placement allowed the vessel to be positioned closer to Marion Island when weather allowed for the medical...

DOI: 10.15493/dea.mims.26052263
Southern Ocean Seasonal Cycle Experiment (SOSCEx) IV on the SA Agulhas II, Voyage 020A, July 2016

The SA Agulhas II operated from Cape Town along the Goodhope Line, completing underway biogeochemical and physical oceanography observations along the transect, as part of the Winter 2016 Southern Ocean Seasonal Cycle Experiment (SOSCEx) IV and Marginal Ice Zone Dynamics. The cruise included deployment of expendable bathythermographs underway, deployment of four autonomous robotics instruments at two stations (2 wavegliders and 2 buoyancy gliders, per station), and the deployment of two Argo floats. One CTD for instrument calibration and verification was deployed at each glider station. The transect commenced to the Marginal Ice Zone for sample collection of sea ice and biological community composition in this region.

DOI: 10.15493/DEA.MIMS.250121-1
No Download
St Helena Bay Monitoring Line (SHBML) on the Africana Voyage 174, February 2003

This St Helena Bay Monitoring Line (SHBML) cruise was conducted on the Africana Voyage 174 in February 2003. This is a long-term monitoring line conducted off the coast of Elands/St Helena Bay on the west coast of South Africa. SHBML started in 2000 as a BENEFIT-driven project on "shipboard monitoring" which linked with similar lines run in Namibia and Angola. The aims were to obtain seasonal and interannual information on the hydrology and productivity of the area. It was incorporated under the Integrated Ecosystem Programme: Southern Benguela (IEP:SB) in 2013 consolidating a long-term, multi-decadal time-series (from 1951 onward) of information for this important region and has continued monitoring in the form of the IEP:SB. The programme is a multi-disciplinary, collaborative and capacity building platform undertaking relevant science, including updating technology, with the aim to develop ecosystem indicators that can be used to effectively monitor and understand the Southern...

DOI: 10.15493/dea.mims.26000000
No Download
St Helena Bay Monitoring Line (SHBML) on the Africana Voyage 230, February 2007

This St Helena Bay Monitoring Line (SHBML) cruise was conducted on the Africana Voyage 230 in February 2007. This is a long-term monitoring line conducted off the coast of Elands/St Helena Bay on the west coast of South Africa. SHBML started in 2000 as a BENEFIT-driven project on "shipboard monitoring" which linked with similar lines run in Namibia and Angola. The aims were to obtain seasonal and interannual information on the hydrology and productivity of the area. It was incorporated under the Integrated Ecosystem Programme: Southern Benguela (IEP:SB) in 2013 consolidating a long-term, multi-decadal time-series (from 1951 onward) of information for this important region and has continued monitoring in the form of the IEP:SB. The programme is a multi-disciplinary, collaborative and capacity building platform undertaking relevant science, including updating technology, with the aim to develop ecosystem indicators that can be used to effectively monitor and understand the Southern...

DOI: 10.15493/DEA.MIMS.41112024
Anchovy Recruitment Survey on the Africana Voyage 112, May 1993

The Anchovy Recruitment Survey on the Africana Voyage 112 was conducted from 18 May 1993 to June 05 1993. The main objectives of the cruise were to estimate the abundance and size-structure of anchovy and pilchard recruits; to describe the distribution and anchovy and pilchard recruits and the influence of oceanographic variables on these. To collect biological data on pelagic fish species and to examine the distribution, abundance and production of plankton in relation to the environment and to recruit distribution and condition.

DOI: 10.15493/dea.mims.26000009
No Download
St Helena Bay Monitoring Line (SHBML) on the Africana Voyage 249, January 2009

This St Helena Bay Monitoring Line (SHBML) cruise was conducted on the Africana Voyage 249 in January 2009. This is a long-term monitoring line conducted off the coast of Elands/St Helena Bay on the west coast of South Africa. SHBML started in 2000 as a BENEFIT-driven project on "shipboard monitoring" which linked with similar lines run in Namibia and Angola. The aims were to obtain seasonal and interannual information on the hydrology and productivity of the area. It was incorporated under the Integrated Ecosystem Programme: Southern Benguela (IEP:SB) in 2013 consolidating a long-term, multi-decadal time-series (from 1951 onward) of information for this important region and has continued monitoring in the form of the IEP:SB. The programme is a multi-disciplinary, collaborative and capacity building platform undertaking relevant science, including updating technology, with the aim to develop ecosystem indicators that can be used to effectively monitor and understand the Southern...

DOI: 10.15493/dea.mims.26052222
Moorings and Monitoring Lines Cruise: Cape Point and Port St Johns on the Algoa Voyage 204, November 2013

The Moorings and Monitoring Lines Cruise: Cape Point and Port St Johns was conducted on the Algoa Voyage 204, 25 November to 6 December, 2013. The South Coast Mooring Cruise had two scientific objectives: (1) Service, maintain and extend the in situ operational oceanography network currently deployed around South Africa and (2) to investigate the dynamics of the Port St Johns eddy and biological implications. On this cruise, the French ADCP SAMOC mooring was deployed. The Cape Recife mooring was recovered and serviced. The Cape Morgan moorings were retrieved. The Port St. Johns CTD/bongo survey lines were completed. The Port St. Johns ADCP was serviced. The SVP drifters and Argo floats were deployed in the Agulhas Current core. Four new ADCP moorings were deployed in Algoa Bay.

DOI: 10.15493/dea.mims.26052234
No Download
West Coast Cetacean Distribution and Abundance Survey on the Algoa Voyage 219, October 2015

The West Coast Cetacean Distribution and Abundance Survey was conducted on the Algoa Voyage 219, 28 October to 06 November 2015. The cruise operated on the shelf and slope regions off the west coast of South Africa, between Dassen Island and Groenriviermond. This cruise was undertaken for data collection as part of a collaborative project led by the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) in collaboration with the Whale Unit, Mammal Research Institute of the University of Pretoria, Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (USA), Aqualie Institute (Brazil) and Oregon State University (USA). The greater programme is titled "The ecology of Humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae in South Africa" and has two components, the east coast and west coast components. This cruise focused on the west coast humpback whales.

DOI: 10.15493/dea.mims.26000005
No Download
St Helena Bay Monitoring Line (SHBML) on the Africana Voyage 222, August 2006

This St Helena Bay Monitoring Line (SHBML) cruise was conducted on the Africana Voyage 222 in August 2006. This is a long-term monitoring line conducted off the coast of Elands/St Helena Bay on the west coast of South Africa. SHBML started in 2000 as a BENEFIT-driven project on "shipboard monitoring" which linked with similar lines run in Namibia and Angola. The aims were to obtain seasonal and interannual information on the hydrology and productivity of the area. It was incorporated under the Integrated Ecosystem Programme: Southern Benguela (IEP:SB) in 2013 consolidating a long-term, multi-decadal time-series (from 1951 onward) of information for this important region and has continued monitoring in the form of the IEP:SB. The programme is a multi-disciplinary, collaborative and capacity building platform undertaking relevant science, including updating technology, with the aim to develop ecosystem indicators that can be used to effectively monitor and understand the Southern...

DOI: 10.15493/DEA.MIMS.32072024
Processed CTD discrete observations from the West Coast Hake Biomass Survey on the Africana Voyage 088, January 1991

Here we present processed CTD discrete data from the upcast collected between 07 and 29 January 1991, during voyage 088 on the FRS Africana, in the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME) region on the west coast of Southern Africa. Neil Brown MK3 and MK4 Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) instruments were used to measure pressure, temperature and conductivity through the water column during research and monitoring cruises between 1983 and 2000.

DOI: 10.15493/dea.mims.26052203
Marion Island Relief Voyage on the MV SA Agulhas II Voyage 019, April 2016

The Marion Island Relief Voyage was conducted on the MV S. A. Agulhas II Voyage 019, 7 April to 16 May 2016. The 2016 Marion Relief Voyage 019 offered the 4th opportunity to conduct multi-disciplinary, ship-based marine research focusing on links and interactions between air and sea, ocean physics, chemistry, biogeochemistry and biology, including microbial, planktic and benthic communities on board South Africa’s polar research and supply vessel MV SA Agulhas II en route to, and around, the sub-Antarctic Prince Edward archipelago. The overall aim was to continue contributing to an oceanographic observation and monitoring system directed by South African research institutions in support of South Africa’s needs – and where possible, in support of global requirements of inter alia the Global Oceans Observing System (GOOS), the Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS), the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), and the Agreement on the...

DOI: 10.15493/dea.mims.26052153
Processed Expendable Bathythermograph (XBT) casts collected during the 2015 Marion Relief Voyage on SA Agulhas Voyage 015

The South African component of the international South Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation project (SAMOC-SA) aims to characterise the time-mean and time-varying components of the SAMOC in the South Atlantic Ocean and monitor the variability of the main Southern Ocean frontal systems associated with the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), south of Africa. The Crossroads monitoring line, directly under the altimetry track N198, is sampled annually during the Marion Relief voyages, using a combination of CTD stations and XBT casts, where the XBT casts are done, at set intervals, between CTD stations to complement the CTD data. Here we present 45 processed XBT casts collected along the Crossroads Transect, between 09 May 2015 and 14 May 2015, during the 2015 Marion Relief Voyage.

DOI: 10.15493/dea.mims.01022023
Processed CTD discrete observations from the Africana Voyage 007, March 1983

Neil Brown MK3 and MK4 Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) instruments were used to measure pressure, temperature and conductivity through the water column during research and monitoring cruises between 1983 and 2000. Here we present processed CTD discrete data from the upcast collected during Voyage 007 on the Africana, in the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME) region on the west coast of South Africa, between 16 March 1983 and 21 March 1983.

DOI: 10.15493/dea.mims.200521-5
Processed drop camera data to investigate benthic invertebrate fauna and associated habitats of the Southern Benguela Ecoregion on Algoa Voyage 263, August 2019

This is processed drop camera data from the Southern Benguela Cruise, which was conducted in the Southern Benguela Ecoregion on the Algoa Voyage 263, August 2019. This study focuses on providing a better understanding of the benthic invertebrate communities and associated habitats of three priority areas within the southernmost portion of the Southern Benguela Ecoregion. This includes Robben Island, the Table Mountain National Park Marine Protected Area (TMNP MPA) and the newly proposed Seas of Good Hope Ecologically and Biologically Significant Area (EBSA). The aims are: 1) To contribute to the first baseline assessment for continuous long-term monitoring. 2) To determine the species diversity of benthic invertebrate communities, and how geological (i.e habitat type) and physical factors (i.e. location, depth) may be responsible for driving their distribution and abundance. 3) To verify habitat types: Verification of the habitats associated with physical features (e.g. geological...

Geographic extent

Temporal extent