Where, how and why harmful algal blooms occur off coastal Washington and Oregon and predicting their arrival on coastal beaches is the goal of the NCCOS sponsored harmful algal bloom (HAB) project “PNWTOX” (Pacific Northwest Toxins). A PNWTOX model developed for HABs is being put to use to help forecast the movement of the debris field [...]
Standing on the shores of Netarts Bay in Oregon on a sunny fall morning, it’s hard to imagine that the fate of the oysters being raised here at the Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery is being determined by what came out of smokestacks and tailpipes in the 1960s and ‘70s. But this rural coastal spot and [...]
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) [...]
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 [...]
A pilot program to monitor harmful algal species and their toxins in Oregon last week confirmed elevated domoic acid levels in razor clams, prompting the closure of popular state recreational clamming beaches from Tillamook Head to Bandon Beach (about a 240 mile stretch of Oregon’s 363 miles of coast). Domoic acid is a neurotoxin produced [...]
In late October 2009, NOAA, state and university researchers in Oregon joined an ongoing regional effort to respond to a major seabird mortality and stranding event in the region. Thousands of seabirds appear to have been impacted by a widespread bloom of the algal species Akashiwo sanguinea. The species, believed to be non-toxic, produces soap-like foam that removes [...]
Sea lions are ordinarily playful mammals…but toxic blooms of algae are making these critters sick. Learn how NOAA and its partners are studying sea lions to better understand how algae can cause illness in other mammals, including humans. “Sea Lion Sickness” is just one of many exciting videos on The Ocean Today Kiosk. For full [...]
A massive harmful algal bloom along the California coast escalated in April 2007, resulting in record toxin levels and hundreds of seabird and marine mammal deaths. National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science-funded researchers and managers worked to predict and respond to the ongoing bloom, which impacted areas from San Luis Obispo south to Los Angeles. [...]