Abstract
The spring/early summer distribution of Calanus spp. in the north‐eastern Atlantic and the northern North Sea was studied from data collected on three cruises between 1992 and 1995, and compared against estimates from Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) data obtained between 1958 and 1993. The patterns observed in both data sets were examined in relation to the hypothesis proposed by Backhaus et al . (1994 ) to explain the annual spring invasion of the northern North Sea by Calanus finmarchicus . The results confirmed that arrival of Calanus spp. in the northern North Sea started in March. The main routes of transport into the area were the Norwegian Trench Atlantic Inflow and East Shetland Atlantic Inflow. The highest abundances of Calanus spp. juveniles (stages CI–IV) were found in May in both CPR and cruise data. Although significant differences in absolute abundance of Calanus spp. were found between CPR and cruise data, similar geographical and temporal patterns of spring advection into the North Sea were derived from both data sources, these patterns being consistent with the hypothesized transport mechanisms.