‘Red tide’ and a loss of sea grass account for some manatee deaths, but researchers believe undiscovered factors are also at play. A record number of endangered manatees are dying in Florida’s waterways. So far this year, 582 manatees have died, more than any year on record, according to preliminary numbers from the Florida Fish [...]
New assessment techniques developed, in part, by NCCOS will be used by the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program’s research in St. Thomas and St. John, USVI. The new techniques will be used to collect data on seafloor habitat types in the region, and stony coral populations and condition. NCCOS scientists met with other scientists from [...]
NCCOS-supported University of Central Florida (UCF) graduate student, Matthew Bilskie, won the Engineering, Computer Science, Modeling and Simulation category at the 2013 University of Central Florida Graduate Research Forum in April. Matt is currently working on the NCCOS Ecological Effects of Sea level Rise project in the northern Gulf of Mexico. His award-winning poster described his large-scale, high [...]
Seabirds in the Gulf of Mexico are subject to multiple hazards, such as pollutants and natural toxins, including algae-produced brevetoxin. NCCOS scientists who have pioneered the measurement of brevetoxin in live animals from blood collection cards brought this method into operation with wildlife managers in Florida to support health assessment and rehabilitation. These cards were [...]
In order to develop better methods of treatment, a researcher from the Mote Marine Lab received harmful algal bloom Event Response Program funds to investigate the physiological effects of brevetoxin exposure on manatees. A persistent red tide bloom of algae that produces this substance is responsible for a record number of manatee deaths this spring. Mote is working with [...]
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 [...]