Brown Shrimp Larvae Recruitment Animation

This animation shows the ultimate fate of shrimp that hatch in the vicinity of southeast Louisiana as simulated by a particle model. The process of larvae finding their way to a suitable habitat is called 'recruitment'.

Blue points show the position where the larva was at sea too without settling; at this point it's assumed to be lost at sea. The maximum time at sea ranges from 20 to 90 days , depending on the water temperatures that the larvae encounters. Red points show the final recruitment point of successful larvae. The date on each frame is the date when the larva either settled or was lost at sea.

The tracks were computed using a particle tracking model developed by Redwood Nero of the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service Southeast Fisheries Science Center located at Stennis Space Center, MS. This particle model relies on ocean model data produced by the Northern Gulf Of Mexico Nowcast Forecast System, which is based on the NCOM. Dong S. Ko, of the Naval Research Laboratory Stennis office, provided this data.

This Project is a NOAA-NGI collaboration with Drs. R. Shaw, N. D. Walker, and C. Li, of LSU and plans are to make a comparison of larval track predictions and a 2 year time series (2006-2008) of larval fish and shrimp larvae from a tidal pass near Port Fourchon, LA.