Vertical Distribution of Large Planktonic Animals
in the Cold Waters of the Labrador Current North
of the Gulf Stream Frontal Zone

G. M. Vinogradov

Severtsov Institute for the Problems of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

Received February 1, 2000

Abstract—The vertical distribution of macroplankton was studied in the region of the Titanic wreck (4139,
4958W), which was investigated over several years. In 1999, the area was located in the cold Labrador waters
north of the Gulf Stream Frontal Zone. Isaacs–Kidd midwater trawls of Samyshev–Aseev modification were
used for sampling; direct visual counts of macroplankton from the Mir manned submersibles were also carried
out. Quantitative data on the vertical distribution of the main groups of macroplankton were obtained. In the
region under study, the expected (observed before) increase in the biomass of pelagic shrimps at a depth of
about 1000 m was not observed. This phenomenon was observed in 1995 and 1998, when the Gulf Stream Fron-
tal Zone passed directly across the surveyed area. This phenomenon seems to be strictly related to the Gulf
Stream Frontal Zone. We explain this as a result of the exploitation of the younger Arctic–Boreal community
by the more “mature” community of the waters of the Gulf Stream.

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