Short-term observations of currents and sub-surface temperatures on the continental shelf and slope along the KwaZulu-Natal Bight, along the east coast of South Africa (project period 2009-2013)

The African Coelacanth Ecosystem Programme (ACEP) III project on Ecosystem Processes in the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Bight, jointly funded by the South African National Research Foundation (NRF) and the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), with collaborative support from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), was conducted from 2009 to 2013, in order to improve our understanding of the drivers of ecological functioning and biodiversity of the KZN Bight. This multi-institutional and multi-disciplinary project included various deployments of moored Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs) and thermistor arrays, satellite drifter deployments, dedicated ship-based surveys from the RS Algoa and FRS Africana, including sampling of physical and chemical parameters, as well as phyto- and zooplankton, and benthic communities.