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Projects

A 2015 Assessment of Metals, Legacy Contaminants, ...

NCCOS scientist deploying caged oysters at a Severn River site in Chesapeake Bay. Credit: NOAA. The Mussel Watch Program has monitored the nation’s coastal waters for chemical contaminants since 1986 ...

A 2015–2016 Assessment of Metals, Legacy Contamina...

One of the Gulf of Maine mussel beds sampled by the Mussel Watch team. Credit: NOAA. The Mussel Watch Program has monitored the nation’s coastal waters for chemical contaminants since ...

A 2017 Assessment of Metals, Legacy Contaminants, ...

Mussel Watch team preparing to load supplies on NOAA small boat for sampling. Credit: NOAA. The Mussel Watch Program has monitored the nation’s coastal waters for chemical contaminants since 1986 ...

A 2018 Assessment of Metals, Legacy Contaminants, ...

Mussel Watch Program collaborators from the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP) collecting Mytilus mussels. Credit: NOAA. The Mussel Watch Program has monitored the nation’s coastal waters for chemical ...

A 2019 Assessment of Metals, Legacy Contaminants, ...

Mussel Watch Program site WBNA (Willapa Bay Nahcotta) in southern Washington. Credit: NOAA. The Mussel Watch Program has monitored the nation’s coastal waters for chemical contaminants since 1986 and in ...

A 2020 Assessment of Metals, Legacy Contaminants, ...

Mussel Watch team members break apart clumps of oysters from Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, to prepare samples for analysis. Credit: NOAA. The Mussel Watch Program has monitored the nation’s coastal ...

A 2021 Assessment of Metals, Legacy Contaminants, ...

Mussel Watch collaborators collecting mussels from Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. Credit: NOAA. The Mussel Watch Program has monitored the nation’s coastal waters for chemical contaminants since 1986 and in recent decades ...

A 2022 Assessment of Metals, Legacy Contaminants, ...

Mussel Watch team processing Dressenid mussel samples in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Credit: NOAA. The Mussel Watch Program has monitored the nation’s coastal waters for chemical contaminants since 1986 and in ...

A 2023 Assessment of Metals, Legacy Contaminants, ...

Mussel Watch team collecting oyster samples from Tampa Bay, Florida. Credit: NOAA. The Mussel Watch Program has monitored the nation’s coastal waters for chemical contaminants since 1986 and in recent ...

A 2024 Assessment of Metals, Legacy Contaminants, ...

Mussel Watch team collecting oyster samples from Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. Credit: NOAA. The Mussel Watch Program has monitored the nation’s coastal waters for chemical contaminants since 1986 and in recent ...

News

First Gulf of Alaska Harmful Algal Bloom Cyst Samp...

The first day of the research cruise consisted of small boat operations to collect sediment samples near-shore in Chiniak Bay. Credit: NOAA. National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) scientists ...

NOAA Predicts Moderate to Larger than Moderate Har...

Predicted bloom severity for 2024 as compared to previous years. Blooms with a severity index above 5 generally pose greater risk to drinking water and recreation in Lake Erie, but ...

New Study Toward a Novel Approach for Controlling ...

The team developed these medium-sized alginate beads, which are now used in the project. NCCOS scientists and partners are now exploring a controlled-release method for managing harmful algal blooms (HABs) ...

Citizen Scientists Trained to Identify Harmful Alg...

Dock Watch volunteers learn microscopy techniques from PMN’s Jen Maucher Fuquay (seated), February 2024. Credit: NOAA. At the request of the Smith Mountain Lake Association in Moneta, Virginia, NCCOS’s Phytoplankton ...

Report Details Coral Mapping Priorities for Guam, ...

Shallow water provides habitat for branching corals (Acropora sp.) on a reef flat in Guam.Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Jonathan Brown. A new NOAA publication identifies areas around Guam and the Commonwealth of ...

New Research Describes Performance of Nature Based...

One of the more significant impediments to the widespread adoption of Nature Based Solutions (NBS) for coastal protection is a lack of empirical evidence about how NBS perform. NBS involves ...

New Study Provides Insights into Marine Bird Distr...

To inform the sustainable development of offshore wind energy on the United States' Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), a recent study sheds light on the spatial and temporal distributions of ...

NOAA Engages Alaskan Communities in Aquaculture Op...

Chris Schillaci handles a piece of Nereocystis (Bull kelp), a key mariculture species for Alaska’s growing aquaculture industry. In February and March 2024, NCCOS and NOAA Fisheries conducted a series ...

Pedestrian and Vehicle Counters Installed to Asses...

To prioritize investments in protection and restoration, managers need to know how people value natural resources and if management actions affect those values. Social scientists at NCCOS are using human ...

Products

Maps, Tools & Applications

BIOMappers let you interactively view data, aerial imagery, dive photography, underwater video and related publications developed for the benthic habitat mapping of many U.S. coral reefs. In addition to viewing benthic habitat data, you can examine the attributes of the data and show different thematic representations. Photos and videos taken during dive missions are linked to the location of the dives.
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North Carolina has some of the best conditions to support offshore wind energy in the Southeast U.S. Three wind energy areas (WEA) identified by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) are being evaluated for potential commercial wind energy development: Wilmington-West and Wilmington-East near Cape Fear, and Kitty Hawk near the North Carolina-Virginia border.
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NCCOS produced a georeferenced, digital atlas of benthic habitat maps for the shallow-water (< 30m) coral ecosystem habitats around these U.S. Pacific Territories. The maps support a variety of management applications, including informing resource management decisions, ensuring safe navigation, supporting coastal communities, sustaining coastal habitats and mitigating coastal hazards.
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Benthic habitat maps for the Buck Island Reef National Monument, north of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands was developed. The bathymetry (depth) data we collected was used to update nautical charts in the area, and the related habitat maps we developed are being used by local managers to plan research projects and site-related infrastructure inside the monument, such as placing receivers for the acoustic tracking of fish and sea turtles.
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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 maps were developed for shallow-water (< 40 meters) areas in and around Fish Bay, Coral Bay, and the St. Thomas East End Reserve in the U.S. Virgin Islands. These maps will help local managers and stakeholders develop place-based action strategies, providing road maps to address key threats to coral reefs in these areas. This effort marks the first time that high resolution depth imagery and digital maps describing over 85 percent of the seafloor are available to local managers.
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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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In the Data Collection you will find data, maps, imagery and selected publications from the 2003 and 2007 phases of the Main Hawaiian Islands Benthic Habitat Mapping project.
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We developed benthic habitat maps for shallow (<30 meters) areas around the main islands of the Republic of Palau to help local managers and researchers develop reef fish management strategies, optimize biological monitoring sampling design, and develop place-based action strategies to address key issues and remedy specific threats to coral reefs. Project PageView Product

The first effort in this location, we mapped the waters surrounding Palmyra Atoll to help researchers develop reef fish management strategies, optimize biological monitoring sampling design, and evaluate natural and man-made changes over time (e.g., climate change, invasive species eradication, and lagoon causeway mitigation).
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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 ...

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 ...

2000 years of sustainable use of watersheds and coral reefs in Pacific Islands: A review for Palau

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 ...

2012 Data Summary for the First Island-wide Fish and Coral Assessment in Shallow (1-100') Hardbottom Habitats of St. Croix, USVI

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 ...

A Baseline Chemical Contaminants Assessment of Sediment from the Nu’uuli Pala Lagoon, American Samoa

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 ...

A Benthic Terrain Classification Scheme for American Samoa

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 ...

A biogeographic assessment of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary: A review of boundary expansion concepts for NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary Program

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 ...

A Biogeographic Assessment off North/Central California: In Support of the National Marine Sanctuaries of Cordell Bank, Gulf of the Farallones and Monterey Bay. Phase II Environmental Setting and Update to Marine Birds and Mammals

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 ...

A changing nutrient regime in the Gulf of Maine

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 ...

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 ...

General Pages

2017 Archive

Harmful Algal Bloom ForecastsResults here represent model solutions initiated from a cyst abundance map from November 2016, with germination, growth, and transport of Alexandrium fundyense cells driven by the factors ...

2018 Archive

Harmful Algal Bloom Forecasts Results here represent model solutions initiated from a cyst abundance map from February 2018, with germination, growth, and transport of Alexandrium catenella cells driven by the ...

2019 Archive

Harmful Algal Bloom Forecasts Results here represent model solutions initiated from a cyst abundance map from February 2019, with germination, growth, and transport of Alexandrium catenella cells driven by the ...

Cyanobacteria Algal Bloom from Satellite in Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds, NC

Harmful Algal Bloom Monitoring SystemImages last updated: 05/08/2024 Click the next and previous arrows to view the most recent 12 usable images from the last 14 days. (You may need ...

Cyanobacteria Algal Bloom from Satellite in Green Bay and Lake Winnebago, WI

Harmful Algal Bloom Monitoring SystemImages last updated: 05/08/2024 Click the next and previous arrows to view the most recent 10 usable images from the last 14 days. (You may need ...

Cyanobacteria Algal Bloom from Satellite in Lake Pontchartrain, LA

Harmful Algal Bloom Monitoring SystemImages last updated: 05/08/2024 Click the next and previous arrows to view the most recent 50 usable images from the last 60 days. (You may need ...

Cyanobacteria Algal Bloom from Satellite in Saginaw Bay, MI

Harmful Algal Bloom Monitoring SystemImages last updated: 05/08/2024 Click the next and previous arrows to view the most recent 9 usable images from the last 14 days. (You may need ...

Experimental Nowcast/Forecast Simulation

Harmful Algal Bloom ForecastsResults here represent model solutions initiated from a cyst abundance map from October, 2023, with germination, growth, and transport of Alexandrium catenella cells driven by the factors ...

Florida Intensification Forecast

HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOM MONITORING SYSTEMThe Southwest Florida Intensification Forecast provides an early warning of red tide initiation or intensification for coastal managers and decision makers. Red tide, also known as ...

Florida Satellite Imagery

Harmful Algal Bloom ForecastsComposite 8-days of satellite imagery up to 05-08-2024 showing location of algae bloom which may include algae besides K. brevis. Overlaid cell count data provided by several ...

NOAA Internship Opportunities

Ecological assessments of Kachemak Bay, Alaska

Kachemak Bay is a dynamic high-latitude estuary that supports a wide diversity of marine species and habitats, providing valuable services to South Central Alaska. NOAA’s Kasitsna Bay Lab (KBL) located ...
Internships, Research, Alaska

A review of NOAA’s Bycatch Reduction Engineering P...

The Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program (BREP) supports technological solutions and conservation engineering practices that minimize bycatch and bycatch mortality in U.S. fisheries. The goal of BREP is to stimulate innovative ...

Advancing the use of drones to support assessment ...

Coastal habitats, including salt marshes and oyster reefs, and the ecosystem services they provide are threatened by climate and anthropogenic stressors. Ecological assessments play a central role in our understanding ...

Partitioning of microplastic particles (MPs) into ...

Coastal marsh lands are ecologically critical areas that provide essential food, refuge and nursery habitat. They are also highly sensitive to pollution and can serve as sinks for dissolved and ...

Science Communications for Charismatic Megafauna

We are looking for a highly motivated and skilled communicator with strong scientific interests or training, who can help us complete the following tasks: Establish a centralized repository of communications ...

Chemical Characterization of Microplastics in Sea ...

Plastics are contaminants of emerging concern that are accumulating at increasing rates in the marine and freshwater ecosystems. Some scientists refer to plastics as the next predator of wildlife. Because ...
Internships, Research, New Jersey

Climate and Anthropogenic Impacts on Critical Rese...

The Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Virginia (CBNERRVA; www.vims.edu/cbnerr) is engaged in understanding the vulnerability of critical emergent wetland habitats and submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) within the York ...
Internships, Research, Virginia

Communication ocean acidification projects on mari...

NEFSC in Milford, CT, is seeking a student to develop and expand communications products on climate change research for marine bivalves in the Northeast United States.  Working with staff at ...

Developing Critical Questions in Offshore Wind Eco...

As planning and construction of offshore wind energy facilities increases along the eastern coast of the U.S. there is a need to identify and convey the most pressing research questions ...

Understanding River Herring Condition Through Lipi...

River Herring are diadromous fish that consist of two species, Blueback Herring and Alewives (Alosa aestivalis and Alosa pseudoharengus) native along the east coast of the United States. Adults of ...
Internships, Research, New Jersey
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