Thirteen marine research/education institutions are found in
the preferred sanctuary boundary. The thirteen encompassed by
the boundary are the Año Nuevo State Reserve; State University
of California's Institute of Marine Sciences at Long Marine Laboratory
at Santa Cruz; Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve,
(NOAA and CDF&G); San Jose State University's Moss Landing
Marine Laboratories; Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station;
the Center for Ocean Analysis and Prediction (NOAA); the Naval
Postgraduate Marine Laboratory; Pt. Lobos Ecological Reserve;
Granite Canyon Marine Laboratory (CDF&G); the Monterey Bay
Aquarium's research division; the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research
Institute (Incorporated May, 1987); the University of California's
Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve in Big Sur; and the FWS research
station at Pt. Piedras Blancas.
The opportunities for undertaking marine research in the area
are excellent. The diversity of habitat types and communities
is outstanding and past studies provide important baseline information.
The Monterey Canyon provides a unique opportunity to undertake
deep water marine research without having to undertake long and
expensive cruises offshore. Finally, the marine research institutions
within the area provide an exceptional resource to draw upon in
furthering our understanding and thus the management of the proposed
Sanctuary's marine resources.
Effective management of the MBNMS will require the inauguration
of a research program that effectively coordinates the existing
research programs and addresses management issues. COAP/NOAA in
Monterey has already made significant progress in supporting research
efforts in the area and in disseminating information from numerous
data sources. A growing education program at COAP is also able
to inform the general public and user groups of Monterey Bay about
the relevance of the data to their day-to-day activities as well
as increase their awareness of the significance of the bay's resources
and qualities.
Specific applied research needs would include OCS research, fisheries
management issues, coastal land-use planning, environmental toxicology,
water and solid waste studies all focused on the resources and
qualities of the Sanctuary.
The role of the Sanctuary can serve to provide a forum for discussion
of research priorities and exchange of information among local
research institutions. The Sanctuary can also provide limited
but long term logistical and financial support for research studies
consistent with the goals of the Sanctuary program.
Specific priority research needs for the Sanctuary will be identified
and approved by SRD with advice from the Sanctuary Advisory Committee.
This process is described in the following Sections.
Scientific investigations into the Monterey Bay ecosystem structure
and function is essential so that managers can develop effective
solutions to management problems. Research funded by the SRD will
be directed to improving our knowledge of the Sanctuary's environment
and resources. This research will not only expand our understanding
of basic coastal and ocean processes but will be the basis for
evaluating activities that may affect the Sanctuary's resources.
The general direction of the research program and the process
for preparing an annual Sanctuary Research Plan is discussed below.
1.
Baseline Studies
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Baseline studies will be designed to obtain a better understanding
of the physical oceanography and ecology of the Sanctuary. Because
Monterey Bay is located in an area subject to hydrocarbon spills
and discharge effluents, Sanctuary managers need sound information
on water circulation. This information would be used to improve
understanding of the dispersion pattern of possible oil spills
and current land-source and ocean-source discharges into the Sanctuary
as part of the Sanctuary's contingency planning efforts. A basic
understanding of the physical oceanographic processes of the Monterey
Bay area at a mesocosm scale is essential before one can undertake
predictive studies of human activities on the marine environment.
Studies into the transport of discharges and materials from sources
to sinks throughout the water column are necessary before one
can conclusively establish cause and effects of these anthropogenic
inputs. It is hoped that ultimately this research will establish
a firm scientific basis from which to apply management and possible
regulatory measures that will reduce the impacts of these human
activities on the environment and society.
Basic physical oceanographic studies should focus on interchange
of water masses between Bay and open ocean, local circulation
within the Bay, and upwelling processes. To accomplish the goal
of understanding regional circulation the Sanctuary could assist
with the development and dissemination of information from existing
monitoring stations such as NOAA tide gauges, current meters,
thermistor chains and satellites such as the NOAA polar orbiting
satellites with the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer
instruments which can image sea surface temperature. Process
oriented studies can use resident, indicator species to identify
local water mass movement and elucidate key productivity areas
or areas of high diversity. Results could then be incorporated
into an understanding of food chain relationships and predator-prey
foraging dynamics.
Such studies could then be expanded upon to determine whether
effects on the resources and qualities of the Monterey Bay area
are caused by biological impacts, i.e., inter- or intra-specific
competition or predation such as between salmon, seabirds, shorebirds
and marine mammals, or from abiotic effects such as sea temperature
rise from El Niño events or from human activities such
as degradation of water quality via pollutants. For example,
a fishery stock assessment could be instituted to determine
the species composition and abundance of the fish population
of Monterey Bay. The data collected in this study would serve
to document the Bay's value as a fishery habitat and provide
the basis for estimating the effects, if any, of increased fishing
intensity, climatic change, fluctuations in predator and prey
abundance, or pollutants on the fishery.
Comprehensive knowledge of the distribution of organisms and
their dependence on environmental factors is needed for interpretation
as well as for resource protection. At representative depths
and locations, the environment should be characterized by the
collection of additional baseline data on water temperature
and salinity, light penetration, upwelling circulation and nutrient-load.
This information should be correlated with data on the abundance
and distribution, by depth zone and location of species populations
living within and transiting the Monterey Bay area. Data of
this type have been collected by the numerous research institutions
surrounding Monterey Bay, but there are still many gaps in our
knowledge of Monterey Bay ecology, particularly land-sea interactions.
The interaction of physical oceanography with biological studies
will assist in developing an understanding of the ecology of
the region and the general health and productivity of the Bay
area. The research and education programs in general will emphasize
a multi- disciplinary, multi-institutional, integrative approach
that will engender a regional and cooperative attitude to basic
and applied scientific issues. The geographic location of the
proposed Sanctuary provides an excellent opportunity to integrate
research that investigates the effects of man's land activities
on the resources and human uses of the marine environment. The
data collected from these studies would serve to document the
Bay's value as a productive ecosystem and focus for public recreation
and provide the basis for estimating the effects, if any, of
present and future land-use practices on the Bay's resources.
Additionally, a historical context study, including a general
literature search building on existing work, will be conducted
to identify probable historical sites (this term, as indicated
before, also includes cultural, archeological and paleontological
sites) within the Sanctuary. This research will be followed
by a field reconnaissance-type remote sensing survey and archeological
assessment to locate and evaluate the extent to which historical
resources are based in the Sanctuary. These baseline historical
resource studies will provide the fundamental information necessary
for developing a historical resource management strategy and
education/interpretation program for the Sanctuary.
The recently constructed Stanton Center will provide a new
maritime museum and history center in Monterey. It will provide
separate exhibit areas, a workshop for ship building and restoration
and a research library. Coordination with this institution will
enhance the public awareness as well as the efforts of the Sanctuary
to protect and research important historical resources.
2.
Monitoring
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Effective management requires a data base more comprehensive
than simply the number of plants, animals, and geologic, physical
and chemical elements within the Sanctuary. It requires an understanding
of long-term changes to the status of the resources and their
environment. Monitoring provides such understanding. Monitoring
data indicative of the relative health of resources can be used
to detect ecological changes and trends. This program should
include pollution monitoring studies and studies to monitor
the population dynamics of species inhabiting the benthos and
water column of Monterey Bay's intertidal zone, canyons and
continental shelf. Changes in the relative distribution of these
species could indicate the existence of natural or man-caused
threats to Bay resources. A three-phase monitoring program has
been initiated at the neighboring Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine
Research Reserve. This program can be coordinated and developed
in concert with a program suitable for the Monterey Bay National
Marine Sanctuary.
The resources and qualities of the Monterey Bay area are exposed
to many different types of threats. Research and monitoring
needs could be ranked according to the perceived magnitude of
the threat. Among the threats to the Bay area resources and
qualities are oil and gas activities as well as discharges from
the land and ocean including point source (sewage treatment
plants, combined sewer overflows, etc.) and non-point source
(agriculture, marinas, urban runoff, etc.) pollutants. Pollutant
loading into the Sanctuary can occur indirectly via land runoff
from rivers or the atmosphere and directly from man's activities
such as ocean dumping, outfall pipes or vessel discharges. The
MOA regarding water quality and discharges outlines a Sanctuary
water quality protection program that, amongst other issues,
calls for the establishment of a comprehensive water quality
monitoring program to: (1) determine the sources of pollution
causing or contributing to existing or anticipated pollution
problems in the Sanctuary, (ii) evaluate the effectiveness of
efforts to reduce or eliminate those sources of pollution, and
(iii) evaluate progress toward achieving and maintaining water
quality standards and toward protecting and restoring any degraded
areas and living marine resources of the Sanctuary.
Many other activities and phenomena in the Bay area warrant
long-term investigation and monitoring. For example, studies
could be implemented to monitor the effects of (1) commercial
vessel traffic in the area; (2) recreational activities; (3)
changes in the abundance and proportions of adult to juvenile
invertebrates and fish larvae; (4) fluctuations in the abundance
of whale, pinniped and seabird species in the Sanctuary; (5)
the intensity and relative importance of sport fishing, commercial
fishing and nature observation activity; (6) biological input
of organics and fecal coliforms from pinnipeds at Año
Nuevo; (7) effects of natural versus man-induced (e.g., sand
mining) erosion and sedimentation; (8) fate of enteric pathogenic
bacteria in Monterey Bay and West Coast waters in general; and
(9) fishery/mammal interactions, such as the by-catch of sea
otters and birds in gill nets, and the competition between sport
divers and otters for abalone.
In general the monitoring data needs to be collected and analyzed
in a manner so that it is widely applicable and provides timely
and pertinent information for academic, management and educational
purposes. Status and trends of contaminants in Monterey Bay
is presently underway with the NOAA and State Water Resource
Control Board Mussel Watch Programs. However, there is a need
for before, during and post-hydrocarbon activity monitoring
and toxicological assessments. These studies should be directed
at all trophic levels of concern including plankton, algae,
fisheries, invertebrates, mammals, and birds. A monitoring program
has been initiated by the Minerals Management Service (MMS)
for hydrocarbon activities in Southern California (MMS, 1988).
A similar study should be considered if future Lease Sales are
considered in the central California area.
Coastal stations, as well as offshore data buoys maintained
by NOAA and MMS, presently measure wind, sea level, temperature,
and other air and sea parameters. Data from these sites can
be used for research, management, enforcement and rescue programs.
However, continuous monitoring and rapid dissemination of information
is essential to permit a timely and effective response by personnel
to constantly changing environmental conditions and threats.
Overall, the monitoring program will assist in our understanding
of the general health of the Bay. It could help discover sources
of pollutants and assist in the establishment of cause and effects
relationships as part of long-term toxicological evaluations.
It could also elucidate the changing patterns, and magnitudes
of input of contaminants. Finally the monitoring program will
carefully address the issue of what to do with the data and
how to apply the findings for basic science as well as academic,
education and applied management purposes.
3.
Predictive Studies
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In addition to baseline research and monitoring, the Sanctuary
research program will continue studies, as needed, to analyze
the causes and consequences of ecosystem changes and predict
their effects on new and more intense human activity in the
area. Unlike the monitoring program these predictive studies
are envisioned to be more short-term and directly targeted to
an immediate management issue. Studies could be made to determine
the effects on marine mammals of possible increases in boating
activity if heightened interest in whale watching and fishing
excursions results from Sanctuary establishment. A knowledge
of these effects would enable management to provide information
to Sanctuary users to avoid disturbing these animals unnecessarily.
Other studies of whales, pinnipeds and seabirds in the Sanctuary
could be initiated to determine their range, where they come
from, and how dependent they are on the food resources of the
Bay. These studies should be closely tied into similar studies
conducted in the GFNMS and Año Nuevo research programs.
One such study, for example, might be an investigation to determine
(1) whether the decrease in Steller sea lions in the Farallon
and Channel Islands can be attributed to a decline in prey availability
and compare the results to a similar study on the relatively
stable Stellar sea lion population on Año Nuevo and;
(2) the importance of the Monterey Bay fish stocks in sustaining
the Steller sea lion population.
Other areas of predictive studies include the development of
adequate circulation models that would be used for pollutant
tracking, emergency response procedures, stock management, etc.
Development of realistic computer models, when updated with
direct environmental measurements, could be of direct assistance
with the management issues mentioned above.