Forcing data were taken from the CREG12 configuration of the NEMO ocean model (Dupont et al. 2015, Dufresne et al. in press) and in-situ data collected during the CFL mission 2007-2008 (Tremblay et al. unpublished, figure Y). Irradiance input from CREG12 followed the sea-dynamic present in the gulf with a fall formation in October, a consolidation in December and a breakup in May-June (Darnis et al. 2012). The coupled biophysical model needed a 4 year spin-up in order to reach a (quasi) steady state.