News and Features by Region » Washington
Posted on March 29th, 2013 in Ecological Forecasts & Tools, Ecology & Oceanography, Ecosystem Management, Forecasting, Harmful Algal Blooms, Sponsored Research
In March, the Puget Sound Alexandrium Harmful Algal Bloom (PS-AHAB) Project (funded by The National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science‘s Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (ECOHAB) Program) issued the 2013 preliminary Alexandrium cyst map. This is part of PS-AHAB’s “just-in-time” information dissemination program to Puget Sound stakeholders to increase early warning capabilities for HAB events. Highest cyst [...]
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Posted on March 26th, 2013 in Harmful Algal Blooms, Sensor Development, Sponsored Research, Technology Transfer
Science recently declared that new technologies are making remote sensing of the ocean a “new wave” of oceanography. This growing array of lower-cost, high-tech instruments–satellites, robotic gliders, moored sensors, underwater observatories–is transforming the discipline of oceanography, possibly reducing the need for expensive research vessels. A new class of automated biological sensors are nearing readiness and [...]
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Posted on January 23rd, 2013 in Forecasting, Harmful Algal Blooms, Monitoring & Event Response, Sensor Development
A recently published research paper describes the minimum requirements for an effective harmful algal bloom (HAB) observing system for the U.S. west coast to mitigate HAB impacts. HAB observing systems provide early warning and forecasting of HAB events to guide decisions to close shellfish harvesting to protect human health, avoid mortality of protected species, and encourage aquaculture [...]
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Posted on November 20th, 2012 in Chemical Contaminants, Coastal Pollution, News Clips
The Mussel Watch Program is a nation-wide water-quality monitoring program run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Since 1986, it has been crucial in helping scientists and the public learn about the presence and extent of toxic contaminants in the nation’s oceans and bays. In Washington, monitoring of Puget Sound is administered by [...]
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Posted on October 12th, 2012 in Ecology & Oceanography, Forecasting, Harmful Algal Blooms
A recently published study into how Heterosigma rapidly forms blooms discovered a remarkable behavior: they flee. This fish-killing species of microscopic plant swims away when it senses single-celled predators are feeding on others nearby. In response, they take “shelter” in low salinity water layers which the predators find intolerable. The investigators said they had never seen a plant swim [...]
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Posted on September 19th, 2012 in Climate adaptation, Climate Impacts, Ecological Forecasts & Tools, Ecosystem Management, Human Dimensions, Ocean Acidification, Sponsored Research
As scientists continue to research ways in which the oceans are changing – and what these changes mean for fish populations, three new research projects will receive funding to examine the effects of ocean acidification on fisheries, and the coastal economies that depend upon them. Ocean acidification occurs when the ocean absorbs carbon dioxide from [...]
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Posted on September 10th, 2012 in Harmful Algal Blooms, Other Topics, Outreach
A recent research paper presents the state-of-knowledge on harmful algae along the west coast of North America. Along the Pacific coast of North America, from Alaska to Mexico, harmful algal blooms (HABs) are responsible for losses to natural resources and coastal economies, and have sickened and killed humans and animals for decades. Recent reports indicate [...]
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Posted on August 13th, 2012 in Forecasting, Harmful Algal Blooms, Human Health, Monitoring & Event Response
The National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science provided funds so that the state of Washington’s Department of Health, the NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center HAB Program, and the SoundToxins partnership can analyze diarretic shellfish poisoning (DSP) toxins in shellfish and monitor for Dinophysis, the dinoflagellate that produces the toxins. In 2011 three people became ill with DSP [...]
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