NOAA researchers recently published An Integrated Biogeographic Assessment of Reef Fish Populations and Fisheries in Dry Tortugas: Effects of No-take Reserves, an analysis of both biological and socioeconomic changes resulting from the remote Florida marine reserve during its first five years. The report indicates that there seemed to be an early increase in certain fish species within [...]
Dania Beach, Florida, a small coastal city about 10 miles south of Fort Lauderdale, is best known as a jai-alai haven and home of the International Game Fishing Association Hall of Fame. It’s also where, for more than a decade, researchers at Nova Southeastern University’s (NSU) Oceanographic Center have quietly studied coral ecosystems in association [...]
A study by National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science researchers posits a new theory to help explain a long-standing puzzle in plankton ecology: despite limited nutrients, why is there such a high diversity of microscopic algae species? The study reveals that competing microalgal species are subject to evolutionary tradeoffs between cellular attributes that promote growth and reproduction (small [...]
Dr. Tyler Smith, a scientist with the University of the Virgin Islands Center for Marine and Environmental Studies in St. Thomas, was recently awarded a NOAA grant to study to understand factors influencing the occurrence of ciguatera fish poisoning and develop methods to predict outbreaks. Dr. Smith is partnering with colleagues from around the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and Florida [...]
An extensive Karenia brevis algae bloom off of the Florida coast prompted NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science to provide the state funding to pay for offshore monitoring of the bloom’s development, movement, and toxicity. This can help the state more accurately predict its magnitude and movement of the bloom as well as its impacts. The bloom started in [...]
Recognizing the urgency to develop clear guidance on reducing the burgeoning lionfish population, NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science allied with experts from around the Caribbean to provide a reference for anyone planning to develop a local control strategy. This free manual, Invasive Lionfish: A Guide to Control and Management (PDF), is aimed at resource [...]
An ongoing NCCOS Event Response-funded investigation by Dr. Christopher Gobler at Stony Brook University has genetically identified the algal species Aureoumbra lagunensis as the culprit causing a brown tide bloom in east central Florida coastal lagoons. This confirms a significant expansion of brown tide harmful algal bloom (HAB) events in the United States. Previous Aureoumbra blooms had [...]
Scientists have preliminary confirmation that the algae clobbering vital sea grass and many kinds of popular fish in the Indian River Lagoon is a super-tiny plant with a big name that is otherwise known as “brown tide.” The algae, Aureoumbra lagunensis, is so minuscule that billions of them can grow in every quart of lagoon [...]