Please note that the contact information included in the report is superseded by the contact information that can be found in the Responsible Parties field of this metadata.This report is a collation of documents and outputs from a variety of plankton monitoring activities conducted on the west, south and east coasts of South Africa and in various parts of the Southern Ocean (during annual relief voyages to South Africa’s Antarctic and sub-Antarctic research bases) over the past financial year 2017/18. It includes pertinent (plankton-related only) sections of scientific Cruise Reports, CPR tow summaries, contributions to the State of the Oceans and Coasts around South Africa 2017 Report Card, contributions (as oral and poster presentations) to scientific conferences, symposia and workshops, and book chapters and scientific papers submitted to peer reviewed journals in various stages of the publication process.It should be noted that in most cases, the samples of plankton (including bacterio- and phytoplankton and micro-, meso- and macro-zooplankton) collected during the cruises listed remain to a large extent to be analysed so that at best only preliminary data can be presented here. For more details, readers are advised to consult the plankton-related contributions to the State of the Oceans and Coasts around South Africa 2017 Report Card (see Section 5), the relevant Books of Abstracts of the plankton-related presentations made at various conferences and symposia listed in Section 6, and the published scientific literature listed in Section 7 of this and subsequent Annual Plankton Reports.

Particulate Organic Matter data (stable isotope) for the Integrated Ecosystem Programme: Southern Benguela (IEP:SB): May 2017.IEP:SB focuses on the biologically productive, cold waters of the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem, which are inherently variable on short time-scales and responsive to changing weather patterms. The research aims to provide relevant, reliable and improved assessment of the ecosystem, in support of its effective management, preservation and conservation, so that South Africans can benefit from a healthy and well-functioning ocean environment. The overarching objective is to enhance understanding in process studies by assessing the importance, timing and magnitude of mechanisms and processes that influence the Southern Benguela ecosystem structure and functioning, including the climate variability.

Seasonal mean total cumulative upwelling in the Agulhas Bank (33.3-37.5°S;18.5-27°E) shelf region during austral summer, autumn, winter, and spring.