An extensive Karenia brevis algae bloom off of the Florida coast prompted NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science to provide the state funding to pay for offshore monitoring of the bloom’s development, movement, and toxicity. This can help the state more accurately predict its magnitude and movement of the bloom as well as its impacts. The bloom started in [...]
The largest red tide bloom to affect Southwest Florida in years stretches nearly 100 miles from Lee County to Pinellas, with reports of fish kills and irritating red-tide air concentrated in Sarasota County. The widespread nature and intensity of the bloom, strongest off Charlotte Harbor, exceeds a smaller outbreak at this time last year and [...]
It’s been almost a year since 150 young harbor seals died unexpectedly and washed up beaches in New Hampshire, southern Maine and northern Massachusetts. The New England Aquarium has taken this sad anniversary as an opportunity to share information with Seacoast communities about the cause of the deaths, ongoing monitoring efforts and to notify towns [...]
The repair of a massive pipe that carries wastewater to the ocean is inspiring one of the most elaborate scientific investigations in years along the Orange County coast. Missile-shaped robotic gliders, sensors tethered offshore and boats crisscrossing the ocean with instruments in tow – all are part of an attempt to learn which life forms [...]
On August 29, researchers at the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) published an analysis of NOAA Mussel Watch Program contaminant monitoring data for mercury and methylmercury levels and distributions around the Gulf of Mexico. Data gathered from oyster and sediment samples from Texas to Florida revealed relatively elevated mercury concentrations (hotspots) in the [...]
Beginning in mid-September, the California Orange County Sanitation District (OCSD) is temporarily diverting wastewater effluent from the main discharge pipe located 5 miles offshore (60m depth) of Los Angeles to a shorter pipe 1 mile offshore (17m depth) in order to evaluate the main pipe for maintenance. The diversion will last between 3-8 weeks. An [...]
The western shores of Lake Erie have long been a longed-for destination of Ohio residents and others from nearby states. For many, summer would not be complete without time spent fishing, boating, or kayaking at Huntington Beach, Headlands State Park, or the ever popular Put-in-Bay. The annual economic value of Lake Erie tourism is estimated [...]
A scientist will map the extent of a red tide bloom during the course of a hypoxia-mapping project cruise funded by the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science’s Gulf of Mexico Ecosystems & Hypoxia Assessment program. The bloom, which was discovered August 10, caused massive fish kills and respiratory and eye irritation along the upper Texas coast. Local [...]