Data and Reports Explorer

On August 12-31, 2017 the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) led a research expedition aboard NOAA Ship Nancy Foster supported by NOAA’s Deep Sea Coral Research and Technology Program (DSCRTP) through the Southeast Deep Coral Initiative (SEDCI). The purpose of the NF-17-08 expedition was to survey, map and ...

Pillar coral (Dendrogyra cylindrus) is a rare Caribbean coral with only one species in its genus. Because of population declines, the species was listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 2014 (Federal Register 2014). By 2020, the species had further catastrophic population declines of an estimated 70 ...

The sensitivity of surface chlorophyll (Chl) and bottom water dissolved oxygen (DO) to total nitrogen (TN) load was investigated using a Bayesian?based process model fit to data from a range of estuaries. The model was used to test if the sensitivity of DO depletion to TN loads is dependent only ...

Species are experiencing a suite of novel stressors from anthropogenic activities that have impacts at multiple scales. Vulnerability assessment is one tool to evaluate the likely impacts that these stressors pose to species so that high-vulnerability cases can be identified and prioritized for monitoring, protection, or mitigation. Commonly used semi-quantitative ...

The long-term impacts on marine ecosystems of the recent dramatic worldwide increase in the incidence of coastal hypoxia are unknown. Here, we show widespread reproductive disruption in Atlantic croakers collected from hypoxic sites approximately 120 km apart in the extensive northern Gulf of Mexico continental shelf hypoxic zone. Gonadal growth ...

Thirty sites were sampled in southern Biscayne Bay and Manatee Bay in December 1999 to determine the extent of toxicity in sediments. Analyses and assays included: pesticides and phenols in seawater; chemical contaminants in sediment; amphipod mortality, HRGS P450, sea urchin sperm fertilization and embryology, MicrotoxTM, MutatoxTM, grass shrimp AChE ...

Factors regulating excystment of a toxic dinoflagellate in the genus Alexandrium were investigated in cysts from Puget Sound, Washington State, USA. Experiments were carried out in the laboratory using cysts collected from benthic seedbeds to determine if excystment is controlled by internal or environmental factors. The results suggest that the ...

Fishery‐independent surveys can provide accurate and precise data for stock assessments and spatial management to sustain fishery resources as a complementary or alternative source of information to fishery‐dependent sampling. Four years of underwater visual survey data collected in several local areas in the U.S. Caribbean were used in conjunction with ...

Shoreline hardening alters the morphology of the intertidal zone and has been shown to impact various measures of shore zone habitat quality. Diet composition and stomach fullness of two predatory fishes, the Bluefish Pomatomus saltatrix and Weakfish Cynoscion regalis, were compared between natural (beach) shorelines and adjacent hardened (riprap) shorelines ...

This manual was developed as an aid to provide context for outbreak investigations and to help train coral disease outbreak response teams so that coordinated response operations can be executed. Chapter 1 provides a rationale for the need to study coral disease and respond to disease outbreaks. Chapter 2 identifies ...

Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) have been associated with fish and shellfish kills, ecosystem damage, human health impacts, and significant economic losses to the aquaculture and tourist industries throughout the world. The increase of HABs in recent years is generally related to direct and indirect anthropogenic activities (e.g. eutrophication, climate change) ...

Wetland managers have historically considered riprap-sill structures (a type of “living shoreline” consisting of a rock sill that is placed low in the intertidal zone, with native vegetation planted between the sill and the shore) to be more ecologically sound than the riprap that is traditionally applied for shoreline stabilization ...

Report provides a spatial and temporal characterization of Buck Island Reef National Monument and the surrounding seascapes of northeastern St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. The project is a component of NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program and the National Park Service ...

Red grouper (Epinephelus morio) modify their habitat by excavating sediment to expose rocky pits, providing structurally complex habitat for many fish species. Surveys conducted with remotely operated vehicles from 2012 through 2015 were used to characterize fish assemblages associated with grouper pits at Pulley Ridge, a mesophotic coral ecosystem and ...

This data contains densities of fishes detected using mobile fisheries sonar on board NOAA Ship Nancy Foster. The data were acquired in concert with a multibeam bathymetry survey off the coast of Vieques Island, Puerto Rico in 2009. Fish densities are presented by size classes, corresponding to individual lengths inferred ...

Over the past four decades, the state of Hawaii has developed a system of eleven Marine Life Conservation Districts (MLCDs) to conserve and replenish marine resources around the state. Initially established to provide opportunities for public interaction with the marine environment, these MLCDs vary in size, habitat quality, and management ...

NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS)-Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment’s (CCMA) Biogeography Branch, National Park Service (NPS), US Geological Survey, and the University of Hawaii used acoustic telemetry to quantify spatial patterns and habitat affinities of reef fishes around the island of St. John, US Virgin Islands ...

The US Fish and Wildlife Service Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge (CRNWR) and the Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research (CCEHBR) at Charleston are interested in assessing the status of our coastal resources in light of increased coastal development and recreational use. Through an Interagency Agreement (FWS #1448-40181-00-H-001), ...

Fishes associated with mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) of the La Parguera shelf-edge were surveyed between 2007 and 2011 using mixed-gas rebreather diving. Fishes were identified and counted within belt transects and roving surveys at 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70 m depth. Vertical transects from 70 to 30 m depth ...

Environmental clines such as latitude and depth that limit species’ distributions may be associated with gradients in habitat suitability that can affect the fitness of an organism. With the global loss of shallow-water photosynthetic coral reefs, mesophotic coral ecosystems (~30–150 m) may be buffered from some environmental stressors, thereby serving ...