Knowledge of foraging behaviour is essential to understand both the ecological roles of seabirds and the constraints acting upon them in marine ecosystems. Here, we investigated foraging trips of a small planktivorous alcid, the little auk Alle alle, using miniature GPS loggers. We performed the study in 2 large breeding colonies in west Spitsbergen (Hornsund and Magdalenefjorden) with contrasting oceanographic conditions (Arctic and Atlantic environments, respectively). Generally, in both locations little auks foraged in areas with low sea surface temperature (Arctic-type water, marginal ice zone, and frontal zones) where preferred zooplankton are commonly abundant. In the Arctic environment (Hornsund), birds foraged significantly closer to the colony (up to 60 km) compared to up to 150 km in the Atlantic environment (Magdalenefjorden). Hatching and breeding success and chick survival up to 20 d as well as chick body mass parameters were similar in both studied colonies. However, chicks in the Arctic environment (Hornsund) achieved both peak body mass and fledging age earlier, suggesting faster chick growth than in the Atlantic environment (Magdalenefjorden). The importance for breeding little auks of nearby cold water foraging grounds may make them sensitive to predicted climate change with serious negative consequences for body condition, future survival and breeding success.

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Zooplankton provide the key link between primary production and higher levels of the marine food web and they play an important role in mediating carbon sequestration in the ocean. All commercially harvested fish species depend on zooplankton populations. However, spatio-temporal distributions of zooplankton are notoriously difficult to quantify from ships. We know that zooplankton can form large aggregations that visibly change the color of the sea, but the scale and mechanisms producing these features are poorly known. Here we show that large surface patches (>1000 km2) of the red colored copepod Calanus finmarchicus can be identified from satellite observations of ocean color. Such observations provide the most comprehensive view of the distribution of a zooplankton species to date, and alter our understanding of the behavior of this key zooplankton species. Moreover, our findings suggest that high concentrations of astaxanthin-rich zooplankton can degrade the performance of standard blue-green reflectance ratio algorithms in operational use for retrieving chlorophyll concentrations from ocean color remote sensing.

Improved quantification of marine constituents is needed to parameterize ecological processes for ecosystem modelling so as to comprehend environmental and climatic impacts on the sustainability of Arctic ecosystems. The combination of high-resolution automatic measurements with a Laser Optical Plankton Counter (LOPC) and size spectrum analyses was utilized to estimate the secondary production of a high Arctic fjord system during a summer post bloom situation in 2012. The dataset comprised 28 vertical and extensive horizontal hauls of a LOPC-CTD-fluorometer platform plus four zooplankton net sampling stations for taxonomic composition designation. A clear gradient in the distribution of hydrographic properties, chlorophyll a concentrations as well as mesozooplankton abundance, biomass and production was demonstrated along Hornsund fjord axis. The outer fjord part was under the influence of advection of Atlantic Water and had the highest chlorophyll a concentrations, numerous opaque mesozooplankton individuals and flat slopes of size spectra, pointing to long food chains in which biomass is recycled several times. The opposite state was found in the innermost parts, where the glaciers melt water discharge led to low chlorophyll a concentrations but high abundance of amorphous particles. It resulted in steep slopes indicating more herbivorous or detritivorous feeding mode of highly abundant C. glacialis specimens. The model of mesozooplankton production demonstrated that Hornsund fjord is a highly productive ecosystem (> 500 g C m-3 day-1), where the bulk of secondary production is concentrated within the upper 50 m layer (72%) and in the fjord's interior. Improved quantification of marine constituents is needed to parameterize ecological 12 processes for ecosystem modelling so as to comprehend environmental and climatic impacts

The organic carbon produced in the ocean’s surface by phytoplankton is either passed through the food web or exported to the ocean interior as marine snow. The rate and efficiency of such vertical export strongly depend on the size, structure and shape of individual particles, but apart from size, other morphological properties are still not quantitatively monitored. With the growing number of in situ imaging technologies, there is now a great possibility to analyze the morphology of individual marine snow. Thus, automated methods for their classification are urgently needed. Consequently, here we present a simple, objective categorization method of marine snow into a few ecologically meaningful functional morphotypes using field data from successive phases of the Arctic phytoplankton bloom. The proposed approach is a promising tool for future studies aiming to integrate the diversity, composition and morphology of marine snow into our understanding of the biological carbon pump.

Plankton and Particles in Isfjorden subtle differences in sampling timing had a stronger influence on investigated plankton than local factors. This pioneering study, which links traditional and advanced methods, clearly demonstrated that such approach is convenient for tracking small-scale spatial patterns and inter-annual variability of P&P in the Arctic pelagial.

As diving seabirds use vision underwater, it is presumed they should preferentially select sites where their preferred food items are not only abundant but also clearly visible. To test this, we studied the optical properties of the seawater in the West Spitsbergen Shelf, in combination with zooplankton abundance in the feeding grounds of the planktivorous little auks from the nearby colonies in Hornsund. We estimated the relative attractiveness of the foraging sites using a novel parameter-visual prey availability (VPAv), which relates density and proportion of the preferred food item (Calanus glacialis) of the little auk, in total zooplankton, to the optical properties of the seawater. We found a significant positive correlation between the density of foraging little auks and VPAv values. Birds chose areas where C. glacialis was both abundant and clearly visible, because of the clarity of the water and low proportion of other zooplankton species. The birds avoided foraging over the warmer Atlantic-type waters, characterised by a high abundance of zooplankton taxa mostly ignored by birds and where VPAv values were low. VPAv values could potentially also be applied to other visual planktivores for which prey preference and visual acuity are known.