Scientists and other stakeholders with an interest in the ecological health of the South Florida coast have been awarded $493,000 as part of an anticipated three year, $1.47 million grant from NOAA. Funding given to the multi-agency Marine and Estuarine Goal Setting for South Florida (MARES) cooperative partnership will be used to develop ecosystem models [...]
On December 15, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) signed an agreement to use a NOAA-developed technology which harnesses isotopes to assure algal toxins are below regulatory limits. The agreement formalizes a decade of collaboration with NOAA for regional studies in Asian, African and Latin American member states. Blooms of certain algae can release toxins detrimental [...]
NOAA-funded partners in Oregon have expanded a pilot project that protects the health of Oregonians while minimizing the economic impacts of closures of valuable state shellfisheries. The project monitors coastal waters for the abundance of toxic algae species (Pseudo-nitzschia and Alexandrium) and the algal toxin domoic acid. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) [...]
Hypoxia is a major concern for many of the nation’s waters Hypoxia occurs when dissolved oxygen (DO) in the water becomes too low to support most life or compromises the growth, reproduction and immune responses of organisms. Although some hypoxic zones can develop naturally, many such zones have worsened (and many others initiated) by excess [...]
National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science-sponsored scientists have discovered and described a new red algal genus and species from coral reef habitats in Puerto Rico. The new species, Cresia opalescens, is a small species of the red algae division Rhodophyta that inhabits crevices and small spaces in coral reefs. The chosen generic name honors the [...]
The National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) supports competitively-funded, regional, multiyear, multidisciplinary ecosystem research, modeling, and information delivery activities to improve predictions and management decisions in the coastal ocean and Great Lakes. In 2010 NCCOS advanced understanding and developed tools for management in three major research areas: hypoxia, deep light-dependent coral reefs, and harmful [...]
Scientists funded by the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science have found extensive and biologically diverse “mesophotic” coral ecosystems off La Parguera, Puerto Rico. “Mesophotic” ecosystems– ‘meso’ for middle and ‘photic’ for light–occur at depths between 30-150 meters (about 100-490 feet) and are the deepest of the light-dependent coral reefs. Too deep for exploration with [...]
The 2010 Caribbean Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring Project (CCREMP) surveys in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands mark an expansion of NOAA coral reef ecosystem characterization efforts into the East End Marine Park (EEMP). Established in 2003, the EEMP encompasses a mosaic of fringing reefs, mangrove forests, seagrass beds and nesting sites for endangered sea turtles. [...]