The Correlation of Upwelling Phenomena and Ocean Sunfish Occurrences in Nusa Penida, Bali

Abstract

Sea surface Temperature (SST) is an important oceanographic variable that can figure the upwelling phenomena. This study aims to determine the variability of SST in relation to upwelling phenomena in the Indian Ocean Southern of Bali Island and the Ocean Sunfish occurrences in the southern of Nusa Penida. Data loggers and remote sensing approach that record temperature was used. An Onset HOBO U20 Water Level Logger U20-001-02 was deployed in Crystal Bay (08°42′S and 115°27′E) at 8 meters depth. The daily field SST data were available from June 2011 to December 2014 with 30 minutes time interval. The monthly satellite images obtained from MODIS on board the Aqua satellite. While the ocean sunfish occurrences were based on rate of encounter (ROE) of previous works by Putra (2015) on July to October 2014. It was found that field data and MODIS have a high correlation (r=0.89) with Root Mean Square Error (RMSE=1.64°C). The upwelling phenomena characterized by the evidence of the colder water mass (SST < 25°C) and a higher concentration of chlorophyll-a, reach its peak in August to September. This phenomena coincidence with the high occurrences of Ocean Sunfish in Crystal Bay on August to October.