Bioluminescence potential during polar night: impact of behavioral light sensitivity and water mass pathways

Abstract

During polar nights of 2012 and 2017, bioluminescence (BL) potential surveys demonstrated high emissions at depths around and below 100 m at offshore stations to the north of a Svalbard fjord (Rijpfjorden). We demonstrated that the highest bioluminescent emissions for offshore stations are located at depths below depths of modelled/ambient light intensities corresponding to the reported irradiance thresholds for the behavioral light sensitivity of krill and copepods, and suggest that behavioral light sensitivity is one of the reasons for high values of BL potential observed below 100 m at offshore stations. In order to understand sources of bioluminescent taxa responsible for the observed high values of BL potential in offshore waters, we have investigated the origin and pathways of water masses circulating to the north, offshore of the fjord Rijpfjorden by using a hydrodynamic model. For both 2012 and 2017, the model water masses mostly originate from the west, where the Atlantic water is flowing northward, then along the shelf and shelf slope of northern Svalbard, and to the offshore of the fjord. This indicates that the advection of zooplankton by North Atlantic Water is one possible source of bioluminescent organisms offshore of northern Svalbard. In 2012, water masses also originated from the inflow through Hinlopen trench and strait, while, in 2017, the offshore water was advected and upwelled into the fjord on time scales less than 10 days, and after that there was a recirculation back from the fjord to offshore on time scales larger than 10 days. This recirculation from the fjord might be another source of bioluminescent organisms in the offshore waters.

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