The NCCOS Harmful Algal Bloom Event Response Program approved a request supporting rapid response to a harmful algal bloom (HAB) in the Indian River Lagoon system of East Central Florida. Dr. Chris Gobler from Stonybrook University will work with the St. Johns River Water Management District to map the extent of the 2013 Brown Tide bloom in Indian River and Mosquito Lagoons. Dr. Gobler and his team will assess bloom effects on zooplankton grazing and the role of nutrients in promoting blooms, and help convene a September public forum hosted by the not-for-profit Marine Discovery Center. This follows a 2012 NCCOS Event Response effort that documented the brown tide in these Florida lagoons, previously found only in Texas, and that produced a new rapid, quantifiable genetic detection method.
For more information, contact Quay.Dortch@noaa.gov.