The St. Thomas East End Reserve or STEER, in the US Virgin Islands, is a collection of marine reserves and wildlife sanctuaries located on the eastern end of the island. Within the STEER, there are a variety of land use and maritime activities that have the potential to impact the natural ecosystem and its inhabitants. [...]
National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science and partners just completed a successful seafloor mapping mission off the southern coasts of St. Thomas and St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The team used various SONAR technologies and a remotely operated vehicle to better understand the physical characteristics of the seafloor, locate and explore important seafloor [...]
From March 18 – April, 2010, scientists aboard the NOAA Ship Nancy Foster will be mapping the seafloor and studying the coral reef ecosystems and fish habitats of the region. Follow the scientists and their research activities by reading about the Mission and daily log. At the request of the Caribbean Fisheries Management Council, the [...]
Efforts are now underway to increase the percentage of complex reef habitat protected by the Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument based on long-term studies of the area by the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science. When the monument was established in 2001, its boundaries were based largely on territorial ownership, and did not take [...]
The National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science announces the launch of the St. John Biogeography Integrated Online Mapper (BIOMapper). The BIOMapper lets users interactively view data, aerial imagery, dive photography, underwater video and related publications for the benthic habitat mapping off St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands National Park and Virgin Islands Reef National Monument project. [...]
Learn about lionfish — a beautiful, and deadly, predator now invading western Atlantic waters. “Lionfish on the Loose” is just one of many exciting videos on The Ocean Today Kiosk. For full effect, visit the Ocean Today Kiosk at the Smithsonian Institution’s Sant Ocean Hall or at an aquarium near you. Original source: http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/video.html
Scientists from NCCOS recently returned from their biannual research mission to St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, March 1-14, 2009, where they continued to evaluate the health of coral reef resources both inside and outside the boundaries of the Buck Island Reef National Monument and East End Marine Park. With support from NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program, [...]
Governments of the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) and British Virgin Islands (BVI) are beginning a new partnership to understand climate change, assess threats, and develop a public outreach strategy. To support this effort, staff from the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science provided historical climate data (1931-2008) from NOAA’s National Climate Data Center, as well [...]