Abstract:
This report summarizes the recent state of the California
Current System (CCS), primarily during the period of
April 2004 to January 2005. The report is based on observations
made between Oregon and Baja California by
various ocean observing programs. The CCS was not
forced by any coherent basin-wide processes during the
observation period. The weak tropical El Niño of 2004
did not appear to have had a noticeable effect on the CCS.
However, the CCS remains in a cold phase, a state it has
had since the 1999 La Niña phase. Some biological parameters
show a distinct response to this state, i.e. zooplankton
biomass and its species richness, others display
a mixed response such as the CCS avifauna and its productivity,
and some do not show any response, such as
phytoplankton biomass and Pacific sardine (Sardinops sagax)
productivity. Over all, the state of the system remains
“normal” with respect to its climatology. The unusual
intrusion of cold and fresh subarctic water into the CCS
is waning off Oregon but still noticeable off southern
California and off Baja California. Because the CCS does
not appear subject to coherent basin-wide forcing, the
outlook for the CCS over the next years is uncertain.
