National Monitoring Studies 2009, (Mesozooplankton)

Mesozooplankton was sampled using a vertical Juday plankton net with a 0.1 m² mouth opening and a mesh size of 150 μm. Vertical hauls were carried out from 2 m above the seabed or from the lower boundary of the oxic layer to the surface at designated sampling horizons.

The wire length required to reach the target depth was determined by accounting for both the wire angle and its deployed length. Samples were preserved in a 4% formaldehyde solution buffered to pH 8.0–8.2 with disodium tetraborate (borax, Na₂B₄O₇·10H₂O), prepared by mixing one part of 40% formaldehyde with nine parts water/sample, and stored in plastic containers. Before laboratory analysis, samples were concentrated to a volume of 100–150 cm³ and divided into sub-samples.