A two year, comprehensive, quantitative investigation was conducted to analyze and identify the spatial distribution of petrogenic and biogenic hydrocarbons in sediments, surface waters, fish and shellfish of Biscayne Bay, Florida. The goal for the first year of the project was to establish baseline information to support oil spill impact ...

This memorandum has four parts. The first is a review and partial synthesis of Phase 1 and Phase 2 Reports by Dr. Ernest Estevez of the Mote Marine Laboratory to the Board of County Commissioners of Sarasota County, Florida.1 The review and synthesis emphasizes identification of the most important aspects ...

In Palau and everywhere in the world, coastal coral reefs are threatened by sedimentation resulting from land clearing in the watersheds. Palau's largest island of Babeldaob is particularly susceptible to significant erosion due to its steep topography, high rainfall, and highly erodible volcanic soil. Previous studies have shown the damaging ...

A collaborative research effort between the NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment’s (CCMA) Biogeography Branch (BB) and the National Park Service South Florida and Caribbean Network (NPS-SFCN) has been inventorying and assessing reef fish populations in reef and reef-associated habitats in the ...

New Frontiers in Ocean Exploration: The E/V Nautilus, NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer, and R/V Falkor 2016 Field Season is the seventh consecutive supplement on ocean exploration to accompany Oceanography. These booklets provide details about the innovative technologies deployed to investigate the seafloor and water column and explain how telepresence can ...

In 2017, the Campaign to Address Pacific Monument Science, Technology and Ocean Needs (CAPSTONE), completed its successful three-year effort to explore deep-sea habitats across the central and western Pacific Ocean. In 2018, NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer will shift its geographic focus and support deep-water investigations in the Gulf of Mexico ...

Thirteen marine sediment samples were collected as part of an effort to characterize and assess chemical contamination in the Nu’uuli Pala Lagoon on the island of Tutuila, American Samoa. Overall, concentrations of organic contaminants in sediment from the Nu’uuli Pala Lagoon are low as compared to other studies conducted by ...

The successional dynamics of microbial communities are influenced by the synergistic interactions of physical and biological factors. In our motivating data, ocean microbiome samples were collected from the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf, Monterey Bay at multiple time points and then 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) sequenced. We develop a Bayesian semiparametric ...

Coral reef ecosystems, the most varied on earth, continually face destruction from anthropogenic and natural threats. The U.S. Coral Reef Task Force seeks to characterize and map priority coral reef ecosystems in the U.S./Trust Territories by 2009. Building upon NOAA Biogeography shallow-water classifications based on Ikonos imagery, presented here are ...

This biogeographic assessment represents the continuation of an ongoing partnership between the National Marine Sanctuary Program (NMSP) and the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS). The purpose of this collaboration is to provide sanctuary managers with basic information on the distribution of marine flora and fauna relevant to the ...

This document is Phase II of a biogeographic assessment completed in 2004, described below. In the spring of 2001, NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary Program (NMSP) and National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) launched a project to assess biogeographic patterns of selected marine species and habitats found within and adjacent ...

Recent oceanographic observations and a retrospective analysis of nutrients and hydrography over the past five decades have revealed that the principal source of nutrients to the Gulf of Maine, the deep, nutrient-rich continental slope waters that enter at depth through the Northeast Channel, may have become less important to the ...

This report presents a framework and provides findings from a community vulnerability assessment analysis conducted in the Choptank Habitat Focus Area (HFA) within the Chesapeake Bay. Due to the strong connectivity between Chesapeake Bay communities and their environment, the risks associated with flooding, coastal storms, and sea level rise are ...

The three areas in Rookery Bay, near Marco Island and Fakahatchee Bay were sampled from July 1971 through July 1972, and 1,006,640 individual animals were collected, of which the majority (55%) came from the Marco area. The large disparity between the catches at Marco and the remaining study areas was ...

A number of studies have shown that mobile, bottom-contact fishing gear (such as otter trawls) can alter seafloor habitats and associated biota. Considerably less is known about the recovery of these resources following such disturbances, though this information is critical for successful management. In part, this paucity of information can ...

Although the existence of coral-reef habitats at depths to 165 m in tropical regions has been known for decades, the richness, diversity, and ecological importance of mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) has only recently become widely acknowledged. During an interdisciplinary effort spanning more than two decades, we characterized the most expansive ...

The Texas-Louisiana shelf in the Northern Gulf of Mexico receives large inputs of nutrients and freshwater from the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River system. The nutrients stimulate high rates of primary production in the river plume, which contributes to the development of a large and recurring hypoxic area in summer, but the mechanistic ...

Blooms of the marine diatom genus Pseudo-nitzschia that produce the neurotoxin domoic acid have been documented with regularity along the coast of southern California since 2003, with the occurrence of the toxin in shellfish tissue predating information on domoic acid in the particulate fraction in this region. Domoic acid concentrations ...

From 2008-2018, our program evaluated coastal marsh resilience to changes in inundation along the New River Estuary in Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune (MCBCL) near Jacksonville, NC. To properly contextualize marsh parameters and processes across a range of tidal influence, we required site-specific information on water levels, temperature, and salinity ...

The goal of this guide is to provide the framework for park managers and researchers to create or enhance a reef fish monitoring program within areas monitored by the SFCN. The framework is expected to be applicable to other areas as well, including the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and ...