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Welcome to Wavebreaking News………brought to you by NOAA’s National Ocean Service.

Maritime Archaeology Center Groundbreaking

A groundbreaking ceremony was held March 9th for NOAA’s new Maritime Archaeology Center in Newport News, Virginia. This was a milestone for protecting historic shipwrecks and maritime artifacts in the nation’s marine sanctuaries, especially in culturally rich sites like Thunder Bay, USS Monitor, Stellwagen Bank, Channel Islands and Olympic Coast. The Maritime Archaeology Center will help public agencies across the nation preserve maritime and cultural artifacts. Opening is scheduled for late 2003.

NOS Marks Lewis & Clark Bicentennial

The National Ocean Service has joined the bicentennial celebration of the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery Expedition of the American West. Beginning at President Thomas Jefferson’s Virginia home at Monticello, scientists from the National Geodetic Survey are using the satellite-based Global Positioning System to place commemorative survey markers along the explorers’ historic route to the Pacific. These markers will become part of the National Spatial Reference System, a coordinate system that defines latitude, longitude, and elevation throughout the United States. It was Jefferson who conceived the Lewis and Clark expedition. He also established the Geodetic Survey as part of the Survey of the Coast in 1807.

Robots Monitor Red Tides

Scientists supported by NOAA’s National Ocean Service are experimenting with underwater robots off the Gulf coast of Florida to help detect harmful blooms of Karenia brevis, a type of algae. Large blooms of this single-celled alga are known as “red tides” lasting up to 18 months, with the potential to produce a toxin that can be lethal to fish and marine mammals. The toxin may also make shellfish unsafe for human consumption and cause respiratory irritation in people near the shore. When combined with other monitoring information from ships and satellites, data from these robots may help to alert coastal communities before blooms strike.

Algae Poison Marine Mammals

The second largest incident of marine mammal deaths ever recorded occurred in southern California during the first half of 2002–the result of domoic acid poisoning. Over 90 dolphins and whales perished followed by thousands of sea lions and sea otters. Nearly 700 animals were treated at rehabilitation centers. National Ocean Service scientists verified the toxin in marine mammal tissue early in the incident. This helped rescuers properly treat many of the animals. Domoic acid is produced by marine algae that grow naturally on the west coast and occasionally bloom in high concentrations. The deaths and illness likely occurred when the mammals consumed fish with high levels of the toxin, which, in turn, had consumed unusually large amounts of the algae.


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