1. Ruben Escribano Center for Oceanographic Research in the eastern South Pacific (COPAS) Database: Pacific Regional Node of OBIS (ESPOBIS, www.ron.udec.cl) administrated by COPAS; new data on zooplankton from the Humboldt Current region; new zooplankton data from coastal and shelf break areas off Ecuador now available from OBIS.www.ron.udec.cl Cruises: 2007 collections in the eastern South Pacific in the central/southern region off Chile. Time series data and samples from 2002 up to date are available. Taxonomic analysis of samples is an ongoing task and the list of species not previously reported for the region is gradually increasing. Ruben participated in the Polarstern cruise in the Atlantic region during October-November 2007; specific aim was to identify species from a wide range of calanoid families to submit for barcoding. Outreach activities Our web sites reporting zooplankton data are increasingly getting attention from public. The number of hits for the Spanish site was 12,264 and that of English (available from October 2007) was 2,412 Presentations: During 2007 two oral presentations were made in Chilean national congresses reporting our link with CmarZ and zooplankton data base.

2. Ruben Escribano (Continued) Education and training November 15-30, an international course on “automatic recognition of zooplankton using digitalized images and ZooImage software” was carried out at our Marine Biology Station- Dichato with Dr. Phil Culverhouse from Plymouth University, UK. The course was sponsored by our Austral Summer Institute VIII, University of Concepcion and COPAS Center. Work planned for 2008: Zooplankton surveys in northern Chile and in the central/southern region. A spatial survey covering coastal and oceanic areas off Concepcion (36° S), including deep sampling (>700 m) using a Tucker Trawl Net is currently underways (05-20 March 2008) onboard the Chilean Navy Vessel Vidal Gormaz. A new project funded by the Chilean Commission for Science and Technology for field work, hiring students, training and acquisition of a ZooScan device for automatic counting and recognition of zooplankton. Four seasonal zooplankton surveys will be supported during 2008-2010. The project will also provide funding to support sampling and taxonomic analysis, complemented with molecular tools (DNA barcoding), in collaboration with CmarZ project. We expect to establish the terms for training one of our students in DNA barcoding at University of Connecticut during this year. The work will be focused on species from the eastern South Pacific, which is a vast region poorly studied in terms of zooplankton.

3. Ahmet Kideys Middle East (Eastern Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Seas) zooplankton studies Activities until March 2008 In this subproject, regular sampling and analyses from both the southern Caspian and southern Black Sea continued. Data were included in a database program (different groups of plankton between 2002 and up to now). Additionally, extra samplings of zooplankton during different cruises from the Sea of Marmara for copepod species were undertaken during 2007. As a result, a few more publications were produced (where CMarZ acknowledged). One interesting question was the fate of copepods when they are transported from the Black Sea to the Marmara with the strong surface current. In October 2005 spatial distribution of live and dead Acartia clausi and A. tonsa was studied in the Black and Marmara Seas and near the Marmara Sea inlet of the Bosphorus, for this aim. Decreased abundance of A. clausi and A. tonsa from the Black Sea towards the Marmara Sea, as well as observed mass mortality of A. clausi in the Marmara Sea near the Prince Islands indicate that the Marmara Sea Acartia populations are forming upon the recruitment from the Black Sea (Hubareva et al, 2007). Future plans: During 2008, sampling will continue at one regular station in the Black Sea and several stations at irregular intervals in the Sea of Marmara.

4. Webjorn Melle (Institute of Marine Research, Norway) and Peter Wiebe (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) G.O. Sars survey (Period 3) Cape Town to Antarctica to Namibia (19 Feb – 29 Mar 08) AKES (Antarctic Krill and Ecosystem Studies) is IMR’s project to investigate target strength and abundance of krill (Euphausia superba) and the abundance and the pelagic fish and squid in the Bouvetøy area. The main objectives are: to evaluate the links between the krill resources and distribution in the area and Bouvetøya based mammals and birds to study krill biology and ecology to establish TS (Target strength; the ability of an organism to reflect sound) for krill and ice fish to study aggregations of krill, fish and plankton relative to the hydrography to compare aggregations and abundance of krill and plankton relative to hydrography in Antarctica and Nordic Seas stomach contents and feeding behavior of krill and fish. In addition the fishing vessel "Saga Sea" fishing krill commercially will also be used as a platform to study krill swarms.

5. Webjorn Melle and Peter Wiebe (Continued) Sampling stations and activities from GO Sars cruise

6. Webjorn Melle and Peter Wiebe (Continued) Sites from GO Sars cruise

7. Sigi Schiel and Astrid Cornils Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research On 26 October, RV Polarstern began its first leg of the 24th Antarctic cruise from Bremerhaven, Germany to Cape Town, South Africa with 43 scientists on board. Among these were 26 zooplanktologists from 11 nations. Zooplankton nets (MOCNESS-10: 5 nets with 333 µm mesh site, MOCNESS-1, 9 nets with 333 µm mesh size, maxi MultiNet: 9 nets with 150 µm mesh size) were deployed at 9 Stations including 4 deep sea hauls reaching to a maximal depth of 5110 m. The samples won were partly evaluated directly on board. 60,000 Animals were sorted and 473 species determined. A journalist and a photographer of the German scientific journal GEO also joined the cruise (see http://www.geo.de/_components/GEO/article/specials/polarstern/index.htmlhttp://www.geo.de/_components/GEO/article/specials/polarstern/index.html

8. Sigi Schiel and Astrid Cornils Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research POLARSTERN XXIV-1