The National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) Kasitsna Bay Laboratory near Seldovia, Alaska hosted 18 science divers during its spring 2013 class run in partnership with University of Alaska Fairbanks. Near-freezing water temperatures and fresh snow – normal spring conditions in south-central Alaska – provided the divers with great training in cold-water and dry [...]
On April 17-18, scientists from the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science’s (NCCOS) Kasitsna Bay Laboratory presented findings on oceanographic and plankton response to environmental changes, results from ecosystem monitoring to assess oil spill impacts and climate change, and research on how diverse glacial and non-glacial estuary habitats support resilient salmon populations at the 2013 [...]
In a newly published study, NCCOS researcher link sharks and other top predators with primary producers (benthic algae) in pristine, healthy coral reef ecosystems. “We used chemical signatures of carbon and nitrogen found in the tissues of the algae, invertebrates, fish, and sharks from the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM) to trace the extent benthic algae influences [...]
The mysterious red tide toxin that has killed a record number of manatees and brought countless dead fish to Southwest Florida beaches over the past few months could finally have an explanation: The algae that produce the toxin are hungry. A significant new study of the algae, Karenia Brevis (sic), suggests that the organisms release [...]
The North Carolina Biotechnology Center funded NOAA and academic researchers to develop a training facility for public health officials and resource managers in advanced molecular methods to detect pathogens and harmful algae species more quickly and effectively. The first workshop, held March 11 – 15, 2013, covered quantitative polymerase chain reaction techniques to detect Enterococcus, the [...]
A species of algae responsible for red tides plaguing Gulf coast communities protects itself by becoming highly toxic when it’s hungry and vulnerable to being eaten by predators, say scientists from NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science and North Carolina State University. The red tide organism, called Karenia brevis, reacts to low levels of nutrients–particularly phosphorus–by [...]
Watch as hunters become the hunted in this story of a delicious but damaging invasive predator and efforts to remove them from our fragile reefs. Lionfish released in U.S. waters are ruining these critical resources by eating fish and shellfish that are valuable to you and me, as well as the reefs they live on. [...]
Invasive species are nothing new. Neither is eating them, as anyone who’s eaten Cambodian water spinach — much of it grown here in Houston — will tell you. But bringing in water spinach from Cambodia and growing it for profit (despite its status over here as a noxious weed) is entirely different from eating species [...]