ORIGINAL RESEARCH published: 12 July 2019 doi: 10.3389/fmars.2019.00364 Mesopelagic Sound Scattering Layers of the High Arctic: Seasonal Variations in Biomass, Species Assemblage, and Trophic Relationships Maxime Geoffroy 1,2*, Malin Daase 2, Marine Cusa 2†, Gérald Darnis 3, Martin Graeve 4, Edited by: Néstor Santana Hernández 2, Jørgen Berge 2,5, Paul E. Renaud 5,6, Finlo Cottier 2,7 and Michael Arthur St. John, 2,6 Technical University of Stig Falk-Petersen Denmark, Denmark 1 Centre for Fisheries Ecosystems Research, Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland, Reviewed by: St. John’s, NL, Canada, 2 Faculty of Biosciences, Fisheries and Economics, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Stein Kaartvedt, Norway, 3 Québec-Océan, Département de Biologie, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada, 4 Alfred Wegener Institute, University of Oslo, Norway Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany, 5 Department of Arctic Biology, The University Harald Gjøsæter, Centre in Svalbard, Longyearbyen, Norway, 6 Akvaplan-niva, Fram Centre for Climate and the Environment, Tromsø, Norway, Norwegian Institute of Marine 7 Scottish Association for Marine Science, Oban, United Kingdom Research (IMR), Norway *Correspondence: Mesopelagic sound scattering layers (SSL) are ubiquitous in all oceans. Pelagic Maxime Geoffroy
[email protected] organisms within the SSL play important roles as prey for higher trophic levels and in climate regulation through the biological carbon pump. Yet, the biomass and species †Present Address: Marine Cusa, composition of SSL in the Arctic Ocean remain poorly documented, particularly in winter. School of Environment and Life A multifrequency echosounder detected a SSL north of Svalbard, from 79.8 to 81.4◦N, Sciences, University of Salford, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom in January 2016, August 2016, and January 2017.