Scientists at the Caribbean Coral Reef Institute at the University of Puerto Rico identified locations and size of reef fish spawning aggregations by the sounds they make. The success of many commercially valuable species in the Caribbean requires annual spawning aggregations of reef fishes; aggregation behavior creates extreme vulnerability to overfishing. The scientists developed a [...]
A new interactive map, “Mapping America’s Coral Reefs,” gives casual observers an engaging overview of the nearly 3 million acres of sea floor habitat mapping data produced by the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science and its partners. This “story” map complements a recent report summarizing NOAA shallow-water coral reef mapping outcomes and results, which [...]
NOAA-funded research in the Caribbean is using the underwater sounds of reef fish, such as groupers, to identify areas where they gather to spawn — a behavior that makes the fish easier to catch and susceptible to overfishing. The research may lead to more precise measures to protect spawning locations and thereby allow a depleted [...]
To support a watershed restoration initiative in Guanica Bay, researchers from the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science released new shallow-water (less than 30 meters deep) sea floor habitat maps for the Guanica Bay/La Parguera region and Finca Belvedere Natural Reserve in the southwest part of the island. Furthermore, the maps will support ongoing management of [...]
A recently published finding may contribute to the development of a long-elusive affordable ciguatoxin detector, crucial for equatorial peoples worldwide at risk of contracting a severe type of seafood poisoning. While researching toxicity differences in the several species of tropical algae that cause ciguatera, researchers from the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science and partners [...]
As part of a joint investigation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, researchers from the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science quantified pollutants that could contaminate the Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. The agencies’ researchers analyzed water samples from test wells around a nearby farm and sites inside the reserve to look for the [...]
Since 2000, the National Ocean Service and its partners have mapped more than 3 million acres (12,100 km2) of shallow-water (0-30 meters) coral reef habitats spanning the Pacific, Atlantic and Caribbean. The results of this body of work are summarized in a new report released by the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), National Summary [...]
A recently published paper in the journal Tropical Conservation Science presents an environmental baseline of surface water nutrient conditions for lagoons and nearshore waters of Vieques, Puerto Rico. Researchers for the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science found that the lagoons on the island had higher levels of nutrients than water offshore. Somewhat unexpectedly, however, [...]