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Projects

A Management Tool to Reduce Sea Turtle Bycatch in ...

Along with our partners, we developed a geographic information system (GIS) tool to help coastal managers work toward reducing the bycatch of sea turtles in U.S. fisheries in the Atlantic ...
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Habitat Mapping, Marine Spatial Ecology, Protected Species, Alabama, Atlantic Ocean, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, U.S. States and Territories, Virginia, Waterbodies, john.christensen@noaa.gov, ken.buja@noaa.gov

A Mechanism Based Intervention for Brevetoxin Indu...

The Florida manatee inhabits environments in which blooms of the toxic dinoflagellate, Karenia brevis, frequently occur. K. brevis produces brevetoxins, that result in fish kills, contamination of shellfish, and respiratory ...
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Harmful Algal Bloom Detection and Forecasting, Other Topics, Sponsored Research, Stressor Impacts and Mitigation, Atlantic Ocean, Florida, Gulf of Mexico, U.S. States and Territories, Waterbodies, maggie.broadwater@noaa.gov

A Study of Gambierdiscus 'Super Bugs' and Ciguatox...

Ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) is the most common algal-borne illness worldwide. It is a debilitating syndrome caused by consumption of fish contaminated with ciguatoxins (CTXs) produced by the dinoflagellate Gambierdiscus ...
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Harmful Algal Bloom Detection and Forecasting, Stressor Impacts and Mitigation, Florida, U.S. States and Territories, U.S. Virgin Islands, marc.suddleson@noaa.gov

Application of Clay Flocculation for Removal of Ka...

Despite routine application in Asia, clay flocculation technology to control harmful algal blooms has not been adopted in the U.S., largely because of the lack of data on U.S. ecosystems ...
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Harmful Algal Bloom Detection and Forecasting, Other Topics, Sponsored Research, Stressor Impacts and Mitigation, Florida, Gulf of Mexico, U.S. States and Territories, Waterbodies, felix.martinez@noaa.gov

Applied Ecophysiology of Marine Aquaculture Specie...

Forecasting environmental interactions of marine aquaculture activities requires an in-depth understanding of the environment and the species farmed. We are investigating two promising candidates for marine aquaculture: red porgy and ...
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Coastal Aquaculture Siting and Sustainability, Marine Spatial Ecology, Stressor Impacts and Mitigation, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, U.S. States and Territories, james.morris@noaa.gov

Assessing Biogeography, Conditions, and Marine Pro...

In 2001, state and federal agencies established the Tortugas Ecological Reserve to protect extensive unspoiled shallow-water coral reefs that support a wide variety of marine life off the Florida Keys ...
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Ecological and Biogeographic Assessments, Marine Spatial Ecology, Florida, Gulf of Mexico, U.S. States and Territories, Waterbodies, chris.jeffrey@noaa.gov, john.christensen@noaa.gov

Assessing the Threat of Hypoxia to Coral Reefs

We are examining the impact of low-oxygen (hypoxia) stress on coral reef ecosystems. Coral reefs are in decline, and human-assisted restoration is actively trying to reverse this trend. Our project ...
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Biological Effects of Contaminants and Nutrients, CHRP, Coastal Change, Coral, Hypoxia, Marine Spatial Ecology, Other Topics, Restoration, Sponsored Research, Stressor Impacts and Mitigation, Vulnerability and Risk Assessment, Atlantic Ocean, Florida, Gulf of Mexico, U.S. States and Territories, Waterbodies, kimberly.puglise@noaa.gov

Assessment of Dredged Material Created Habitat in ...

Summary: We characterized the habitat formed by dredge material disposed in sites designated by the EPA offshore of Fernandina Beach, FL using SCUBA assessments, multibeam mapping, and hydroacoustic sampling of ...
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Coral, Ecological and Biogeographic Assessments, Habitat Mapping, Marine Spatial Ecology, Atlantic Ocean, Florida, U.S. States and Territories, Waterbodies, chris.taylor@noaa.gov

Assessment of Hurricane Impacts to Coral Reefs in ...

In 2017, major hurricanes impacted coral reefs in both Florida and Puerto Rico. We quantified these impacts using diver-based surveys, and our information was used to guide targeted emergency stabilization ...
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Climate Impacts on Ecosystems, Coastal Change, Marine Spatial Ecology, Natural and Nature-based Features, Regional Ecosystem Science, Restoration, Vulnerability and Risk Assessment, Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Florida, Gulf of Mexico, Puerto Rico, U.S. States and Territories, Waterbodies, shay.viehman@noaa.gov

Assessment of the Short- and Long-term Socioeconom...

This project, funded by NCCOS through the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System, will comprehensively quantify and qualify the short- and long-term socioeconomic impacts of the 2017-2019 Karenia brevis ...
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Ecosystem Services Valuation, Harmful Algal Bloom Detection and Forecasting, Other Topics, Social Science, Sponsored Research, Stressor Impacts and Mitigation, Atlantic Ocean, Florida, Gulf of Mexico, U.S. States and Territories, Waterbodies, marykate.rogener@noaa.gov

News

Investigating the Long-term Effects of Chronic Tur...

Fragments of the Caribbean coral Orbicella faveolata being prepared for daily imaging. A photo of each coral is taken under a fluorescent microscope every day so that scientists can capture ...
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Coral, Marine Spatial Ecology, Protected Species, Stressor Impacts and Mitigation, Water Quality, Florida, U.S. States and Territories

Low Quality Habitats Found in Biscayne National Pa...

Green triangles = non-impacted sites; yellow triangles = moderately impacted sites; and red triangles = highly impacted sites. Mean percent normal sea urchin embryo development is in parentheses following the ...
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Biological Effects of Contaminants and Nutrients, Stressor Impacts and Mitigation, Water Quality, Florida, U.S. States and Territories, lisa.may@noaa.gov

NCCOS Scientists Lead DWH Adaptive Management Work...

NCCOS scientists (Tim Battista, Charles Menza, Chris Taylor, Randy Clark and Sarah Hile) led two workshops at NMFS Southeast Regional Office in St. Petersburg, FL, the week of Dec 5 ...
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Assessing Vulnerability and Resilience, Coastal Change, Oil Spill, Restoration, Social Science, Stressor Impacts and Mitigation, Alabama, Florida, Gulf of Mexico, Mississippi, U.S. States and Territories, Waterbodies, charles.menza@noaa.gov, chris.taylor@noaa.gov, randy.clark@noaa.gov, sarah.hile@noaa.gov, tim.battista@noaa.gov

New Report Summarizes National Coral Reef Monitori...

Summary statistics for the 2020-2021 sampling completed in Florida. A report released in October 2022 describes the status and trends of Florida's coral reef ecosystem using data from the National ...
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Coral, Ecological and Biogeographic Assessments, Marine Spatial Ecology, Protected Species, Atlantic Ocean, Florida, Gulf of Mexico, U.S. States and Territories, Waterbodies, shay.viehman@noaa.gov

New Report Presents Agency Priorities for Mapping ...

NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program uses benthic mapping data to support a variety of management decisions about coral reef ecosystems. To help the program efficiently allocate limited mapping resources, NCCOS ...
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Coral, Coral, Habitat Mapping, Marine Spatial Ecology, Stressor Impacts and Mitigation, Atlantic Ocean, Florida, U.S. States and Territories, Waterbodies, christine.addison@noaa.gov, jennifer.krauss@noaa.gov

Researchers Transfer Threatened Coral Larvae from ...

NCCOS scientists have successfully transferred and settled fertilized elkhorn and mountainous star coral larvae — two species listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act — from reefs in the ...
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Coral, Marine Spatial Ecology, Protected Species, Florida, U.S. States and Territories, cheryl.woodley@noaa.gov

Massive Everglades Restoration Project Unlikely to...

NCCOS scientists Matt Kendall (middle left) and Arliss Winship (middle right) quantify trawl catch in southwest Florida with staff from the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. Credit: Bethany Williams, ...
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Coastal Change, Environmental Interactions, Marine Spatial Ecology, Restoration, Florida, U.S. States and Territories, Matt.Kendall@noaa.gov; Bethany.Williams@noaa.gov

NCCOS Awards $11 Million for Research to Enhance C...

Motorists crossing a flooded street in a low-lying Norfolk neighborhood called Colonial Place, which floods at every high tide. Credit: Chesapeake Bay Program/Will Parson NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean ...
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Climate Impacts on Ecosystems, Coastal Change, Natural and Nature-based Features, Other Topics, Sea Level Rise, Sponsored Research, Alabama, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, U.S. States and Territories, Virginia, Washington, david.kidwell@noaa.gov, trevor.meckley@noaa.gov

Study Calculates Area Covered by Natural vs Artifi...

Figure 1: Underwater images of artificial reefs (A, B) and natural reefs (C, D) on the southeast US continental shelf. (A) Artificial reef created by a ship. (B) Artificial reef ...
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Ecological and Biogeographic Assessments, Marine Spatial Ecology, Atlantic Ocean, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, U.S. States and Territories, Waterbodies, avery.paxton@noaa.gov

Communities in Southwest Florida Receive New Tools...

A NOAA funded study led by the University of Florida and Florida Gulf Coast University has recently published two new research papers and a community planning tool called ACUNE (Adaptation ...
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Climate Impacts on Ecosystems, Coastal Change, Natural and Nature-based Features, Sea Level Rise, Vulnerability and Risk Assessment, Florida, Gulf of Mexico, U.S. States and Territories, Waterbodies, Elizabeth.Mcnamee@noaa.gov, trevor.meckley@noaa.gov

Products

Maps, Tools & Applications

Benthic Habitat Mapping of Deep Corals in the U.S. South Atlantic to Conserve Vulnerable Fish Habitat and Ecosystems

Deep-sea corals provide important habitats for many marine species, including commercial fish. This data will be used to target areas for deep-sea coral surveys and to develop a predictive model to identify where deep-sea corals are likely to occur. The information will help coastal managers conserve these fragile ecosystems.
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Benthic Habitat Mapping of Florida Coral Reef Ecosystems to Support Reef Conservation and Management

NOAA mapped the shallow-water (less than 25 meters deep) coral reef ecosystems of the Florida Keys to support research, conservation, and management activities of state and federal agencies, including the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program.
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Cyanobacteria Algal Bloom from Satellite in Lake Okeechobee, FL

NCCOS developed the Algal Bloom Monitoring System to routinely deliver near real-time products for use in locating, monitoring and quantifying algal blooms in coastal and lake regions of the US. This application delivers a suite of bloom detection products in the form of geographic based images. At this time products are available for selected regions. New products are being evaluated, and new regions are being considered; as they are proven useful, they will be made available through this system.

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Ecological Assessment of Storm Impacts

The Ecological Assessment of Storm Impacts website includes a database of chemical and toxicological information on contaminants permitted for use in the St. Johns River Watershed, Florida, and the lower Columbia River watershed in Oregon and Washington.
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Phytoplankton Monitoring Network

NCCOS runs the Phytoplankton Monitoring Network (PMN) to link volunteers who monitor for marine phytoplankton and HABs in cooperation with professional scientists. We build a more informed public while expanding the reach and resolution of HAB monitoring. Over 200 PMN volunteers sample 140+ sites in 17 states and the US Virgin Islands.
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Red tide from Satellite for Southwest Florida

NCCOS developed the Algal Bloom Monitoring System to routinely deliver near real-time products for use in locating, monitoring and quantifying algal blooms in coastal and lake regions of the US. This application delivers a suite of bloom detection products in the form of geographic based images. At this time products are available for selected regions. New products are being evaluated, and new regions are being considered; as they are proven useful, they will be made available through this system.

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Data & Publications

1983 Biscayne Bay Hydrocarbon Study

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 ...
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1987 Ecosystem View of Management Research in the Myakka River

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 ...
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A Comparison of Animal Abundance and Distribution in Similar Habitats in Rookery Bay, Marco Island and Fakahatchee on the Southwest Coast of Florida 1971 - 1972

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 ...
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A guide to monitoring reef fish in the National Park Service's South Florida/Caribbean Network

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 ...
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An Earth's Future Special Collection: Impacts of the coastal dynamics of sea level rise on low-gradient coastal landscapes

Rising sea level represents a significant threat to coastal communities and ecosystems, including altered habitats and increased vulnerability to coastal storms and recurrent inundation. This threat is exemplified in the northern Gulf of Mexico, where low topography, marshes, and a ...
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An unprecedented coastwide toxic algal bloom linked to anomalous ocean conditions

A coastwide bloom of the toxigenic diatom Pseudo-nitzschia in spring 2015 resulted in the largest recorded outbreak of the neurotoxin, domoic acid, along the North American west coast. Elevated toxins were measured in numerous stranded marine mammals and resulted in ...
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Assessment of dredged material created habitat in the South Atlantic Bight - Fernandina Beach Ocean Dredged Material Disposal Site (ODMDS)

The National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) collaborated with EPA Region 4 Water Protection Division of Coastal and Marine Resources and Wetland Enforcement Section to assess Ocean Dredge Material Dump Sites (ODMDS) as essential fish habitat off the coast ...
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Assessment of Ecological Condition and Potential Stressor Impacts in Offshore Areas of Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary

In June 2015, the NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science conducted an assessment of the status of ecological condition of unconsolidated, soft-bottom habitat and overlying waters at 30 sites from 11 – 99 m depth in targeted shelf areas ...
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Biological, chemical, and physical data from the Phytoplankton Monitoring Network from 13 Sep 2001 to 7 Mar 2013 (NODC Accession 0117942)

The Phytoplankton Monitoring Network (PMN) is a part of the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS). The PMN was created as an outreach program to connect volunteers and professional scientists in the monitoring of marine phytoplankton and harmful algal ...
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Characterization of mesophotic coral/sponge ecosystem habitats in the region of the Tortugas Ecological Reserves from ROV Dives during 2013 and 2014 R/V Walton Smith cruises

This report resulted from our ROV surveys to characterize the mesophotic coral reef ecosystems at Pulley Ridge and Tortugas as part of a research grant funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research ...
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General Pages

Florida Intensification Forecast

Harmful Algal Bloom Monitoring SystemThe Southwest Florida Intensification Forecast provides technical information to coastal managers on Karenia brevis (red tide) bloom intensification along the southwest Florida coast. During the early ...
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Harmful Algal Bloom Detection and Forecasting, Stressor Impacts and Mitigation, Florida, Gulf of Mexico, U.S. States and Territories, Waterbodies, richard.stumpf@noaa.gov, yizhen.li@noaa.gov

Florida Satellite Imagery

Harmful Algal Bloom ForecastsComposite 8-days of satellite imagery up to 03-30-2023 showing location of algae bloom which may include algae besides K. brevis. Overlaid cell count data provided by several ...
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Florida, Gulf of Mexico, U.S. States and Territories, Waterbodies, andrew.meredith@noaa.gov, richard.stumpf@noaa.gov

Gulf of Mexico

Harmful Algal Bloom Forecasts In the Gulf of Mexico, some harmful algal blooms are caused by the microscopic algae species Karenia brevis, commonly called red tide. Karenia brevis blooms can ...
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Harmful Algal Bloom Detection and Forecasting, Stressor Impacts and Mitigation, Florida, Gulf of Mexico, U.S. States and Territories, Waterbodies, andrew.meredith@noaa.gov, michelle.tomlinson@noaa.gov, richard.stumpf@noaa.gov, yizhen.li@noaa.gov

Harmful Algae from Satellite for Southwest Florida

Harmful Algal Bloom Monitoring SystemAlgal Blooms from Satellite for Southwest FloridaKarenia brevis is present in water samples, so blooms are likely to be Karenia brevis. To access the Florida Gulf ...
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Harmful Algal Bloom Detection and Forecasting, Stressor Impacts and Mitigation, Florida, U.S. States and Territories, richard.stumpf@noaa.gov

Harmful Algal Bloom Monitoring System

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) occur when algae—simple plants that live in the sea and freshwater—grow out of control and sometimes produce toxins harmful to people and animals. Only a small ...
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Harmful Algal Bloom Detection and Forecasting, Stressor Impacts and Mitigation, Chesapeake Bay, Florida, Great Lakes, Gulf of Mexico, Ohio, U.S. States and Territories, Washington, Waterbodies, richard.stumpf@noaa.gov

Tampa Bay

Harmful Algal Bloom Monitoring System: Southwest FloridaThis page shows algal blooms in Tampa Bay. Blooms of some different types of algae may be present. In lower Tampa Bay, Karenia brevis ...
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Harmful Algal Bloom Detection and Forecasting, Stressor Impacts and Mitigation, Florida, Gulf of Mexico, U.S. States and Territories, Waterbodies

NOAA Internship Opportunities

Tracking of Caribbean Corals Outplanted from Nurse...

Coral restoration is an increasingly popular technique for addressing coral population declines and limited recovery. There are a multitude of organizations propagating corals in nurseries for use in population enhancement ...
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Internships, Policy, Florida
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