Daily vertical migration of dense deep scattering layers related to the shelf-break area along the northwest coast of Baja California, Mexico

Echo signals were collected with a Simrad 200 kHz transduceracross the shelf-break features off the northwest coast of BajaCalifornia (30°05'–30°42'N, 115°50'–116°26'W)during two diel cycles (July 1995) with the objective of describingvertical migrations of two dense deep scattering layers (DSL)found near the shelf break. DSL records were made within anarea ±50 m in the neritic zone, ±200 m at theshelf break and ±1000 m depth in the offshore station.Using an Isaacs-Kidd midwater net and Bongo nets, we inferredthat the DSL were composed mainly of juveniles and adults ofthe euphausiids Nyctiphanes simplex Hansen and Euphausia pacificaHansen. These aggregations have a close interaction with theocean bottom during the daytime and display a vertical migration,rising near to the surface at night where a progressive horizontaldispersion then occurs. The DSL measured 3.5–6.0 km horizontallyduring the night. The ascent and descent migrations of the DSLwere significantly fitted to a polynomial function of the secondorder, suggesting different swimming behavior during these twoprocesses. Vertical migrations of the DSL were between 60 and90 m. During the descent migration, maximum instantaneous speedsreached 0.7 cm s¹, and during the ascent, maximum instantaneousspeeds were 0.3 cm s¹. These coastal euphausiid species, alongwith other macrozooplankton and nektonic organisms, have a dailyclose interaction with the ocean bottom and also with the pelagicenvironment, suggesting that they play an important role providingfood for demersal and pelagic organisms on the slope and shelfbreak in the upwelling region off the northwest coast of BajaCalifornia.