DISTRIBUTION OF SURFACE ZOOPLANKTON AND SEABIRDS ACROSS THE SOUTHERN-OCEAN

Surface zooplankton and seabird densities and community composition in the Atlantic (between Cape Town and Sanae) and Pacific (between New Z ealand and the Ross Sea) sectors of the Southern Ocean are described a nd related to oceanographic features. Samples were collected during tw o return voyages aboard the MV Benjamin Bowring as part of the Transgl obe Expedition (1979-1981). High abundances of surface zooplankton and seabirds were consistently observed within the main frontal systems o f the Southern Ocean. Generally, on a mesoscale significant correlatio ns between surface temperature and the distribution of zooplankton or seabirds were observed. On a macroscale, the geographical positions of the zooplankton and seabird communities coincided with specific water masses, The results of this study suggest that appropriate food avail ability rather than water temperature is important for the determinati on of seabird distribution. The ecological importance of the recently described frontal zone associated with the northern boundary of the ma ximum winter expansion of sea ice is confirmed by biological data obta ined in this study.