Quick link to daily mission logs and related products NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science kicked off the eighth year of a mission to explore and map underwater realms of the U.S. Caribbean aboard the NOAA Ship Nancy Foster. For many of the areas visited during this expedition, it’ll be the first time they’ve [...]
The 2010 Caribbean Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring Project (CCREMP) surveys in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands mark an expansion of NOAA coral reef ecosystem characterization efforts into the East End Marine Park (EEMP). Established in 2003, the EEMP encompasses a mosaic of fringing reefs, mangrove forests, seagrass beds and nesting sites for endangered sea turtles. [...]
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 [...]
Scientists with NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science recently published the first step in developing a biogeographic assessment for Samoa. The work plan, entitled Biogeographic Assessment of Samoa: In Support of the Two Samoas Initiative of American Samoa and Samoa, outlines planned research to provide information to support marine resource management in Samoa and [...]
A scientist from the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science presented a poster at the 62nd annual Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute Meeting, held November 2-6th in Cumana, Venezuela. The poster outlined preliminary results from a comparison study of two habitat survey methodologies, specifically regarding differences in estimates of percent bottom cover. Preliminary analyses show [...]
A new NOAA report published by the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science and the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries provides the sharpest picture yet of the marine life and ecosystems of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument (PMNM). A Marine Biogeographic Assessment of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands examines the geographic distribution of the island chain’s [...]