Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA)

What’s New?

August 2009

Experimental Harmful Algal Bloom Forecast May Reduce Impacts to Residents
A recent series of experimental harmful algal bloom forecasts alerted resource managers in the Great Lakes to a Microcystis spp. (also referred to as “blue-green algae”)bloom in the region, allowing them to take preemptive measures to reduce impacts.  Since July 30, 2009, the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), in collaboration with the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, have released a weekly forecast for western Lake Erie to local health officials, water treatment managers, natural resource managers, and several research scientists in the area.  As a result, increased filtration of drinking water in the area may be undertaken to lessen taste and odor issues associated with previous blooms, and waterfront recreational areas may have warnings posted.  Microcystis spp. often forms dense blooms that can discolor the water, cause taste and odor issues in drinking water, and can negatively affect humans and animals through their potential to produce hepatotoxins (liver-damaging toxins).  For more information, contact Michelle Tomlinson at (301) 713-3028 x225 or Michelle.Tomlinson@noaa.gov.

June 2009

Study Evaluates Agricultural Best Management Practices in Jobos Bay, Puerto Rico
Scientists from the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) recently completed a field mission designed to help determine the impacts of agricultural pollution on corals near the Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.  Working in collaboration with the Reserve and the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, scientists sampled 16 sites for coral tissues, which will be analyzed for a suite of contaminants including major and trace elements (including heavy metals), selected pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (better known as PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs or flame retardants).  This field work is a component of a larger cooperative project with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Geological Survey and Puerto Rico’s Department of Natural and Environmental Resources to assess the effectiveness of agricultural best management practices in the watershed.  For more information, contact Dave Whitall at (301) 713-3028 x138 or Dave.Whitall@noaa.gov, or Adam Zitello at (301) 713-3028 x 176 or Adam.Zitello@noaa.gov, or visit http://ccma.nos.noaa.gov/ecosystems/coralreef/CEAP.html

January 2009

National Report Provides Insight for Management of U.S. Coastal Ocean Waters
Scientists from the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) contributed heavily to the National Coastal Condition Report (NCCR) III, an interagency report authored by NOAA, the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Geological Survey.  The NCCR, released in December 2008, characterizes the condition of U.S. coastal waters based on indices for water quality, sediment quality, coastal habitat, benthos, and fish tissue contaminants.  Overall, the conditions were “Fair,” and have improved slightly since the first NCCR was published in 2001.  NCCOS also contributed an integrated assessment of the human uses of Narragansett Bay (Chapter 9 of the report).  For more information, see http://www.epa.gov/owow/oceans/nccr3/downloads.html, or contact Dave Whitall at (301) 713-3028 x138 or Dave.Whitall@noaa.gov.

December 2008

NOS Offices Reward Scientist for Laudatory Collaboration Efforts
Shelly Tomlinson from the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science received the 2008 NOS Peer Recognition “Rafting” Award.  She was singled out for her work with IOOS and other offices working together on NOS’s Harmful Algal Bloom Forecast System (HAB-FS), a highly collaborative cross-cutting program effort.  The purpose of the system is to provide an advanced warning of HAB events to coastal managers and the public.  As lead analyst for the western Gulf of Mexico HAB-FS system, Shelly uses software developed by CSC explicitly for the HAB-FS to analyze data and model output to provide now- and forecasts to coastal managers responsible for both public and ecosystem health.  She was also praised for contributing to IOOS’s data integration framework, and contributing to the addition of currents data into that framework, among other things.  Shelly received her award at the NOS Employee Recognition Ceremony in Silver Spring on December 9, 2008.  For more information, contact Shelly Tomlinson at (301) 713-3028 x225 or Michelle.Tomlinson@noaa.gov.

November 2008

Meeting connects Maryland water quality experts and Asian partners to minimize water quality problems in Asia
A scientist from the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science was an invited guest at the October 23 meeting of the Maryland–Asia Environmental Partnership meeting (http://www.mdaep.com) “A Public-Private dialogue: Galvanizing Maryland Resources to meet water management and technology needs in Asia.”  The conference focused on connecting expertise from Maryland-based university research labs, state, national, and multilateral government agencies, and the business supply chain, to build partnerships to do business in Asia.  The intent of these connections is to try to reverse or lessen the dire predictions by United Nations experts that Asian developing countries will soon face a water quality management crisis unprecedented in human history.  The meeting provided unique Maryland perspectives on applicable lessons-learned in water management, new technologies and financial resources, and sustainability efforts which could be mobilized to help address Asia’s water management and technology needs.  (http://www.mdaep.com/id93.html).  For more information, contact Suzanne Bricker at (301) 713-3020 x139 or Suzanne.Bricker@noaa.gov.

October 2008

CCMA’s Mussel Watch Program at Risk after Completing 23rd Year of Monitoring the Nation’s Coasts
Scientists from the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science’s Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment completed the 23rd year of sampling of U.S. coasts with this year’s completion of sampling zebra mussels in the Great Lakes this September.  National sampling was made possible because of the collaboration of such groups as the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, the Southern California Coastal Water Resources Project, the State of California Water Resources Control Board, and the U.S. Coast Guard.  Data from the Mussel Watch Program were recently made available to NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration to help define contaminant concentrations in Texas and Louisiana prior to the landfall of Hurricanes Ike and Gustav.  The budget outlook for this Program is not good, and Mussel Watch will be terminated in mid-2009.  Mussel Watch data represent a nationally relevant time series of ambient contaminant conditions.  It is the national “gold standard” for determining baseline conditions so that the effects of oil spills and natural and manmade disasters can be assessed.  Once a time series of this breadth and duration is terminated it will likely never be replicated, and the nation will have lost a critical capability to assess the status and trends of contamination of our estuarine and coastal waters.  For more information, contact Gunnar Lauenstein at (301) 713-3028 x152 or Gunnar.Lauenstein@noaa.gov or John Christensen at (301) 713-3028 x137 or John.Christensen@noaa.gov. 

Meeting Analyzes Models to Help Irish Aquaculture Farmers Maximize Profitability and Minimize Water Quality Damage
A scientist from the Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment participated in the final meeting of the UISCE (Gaelic for fish, Understanding Irish Shellfish Culture Environments) project that combines models of hydrology, shellfish growth, and the Assessment of Estuarine Trophic Status (ASSETS) eutrophication model to look at sustainability and maximization of yields and profitability for aquaculture in Irish Seas, while minimizing water quality impacts.  The work is supported by the BIM (Bord Iascaigh Mhara, Irish Sea Fisheries Board; www.bim.ie; www.bim2b.com) and was conducted by a team that includes European and American partners.  The meeting was held in Westport, Co. Mayo, on September 24-25, 2008.  The report will be available in December 2008, and peer reviewed publications as well as online-accessible tools for aquaculture farmers will be available in the near future.  For more information, contact Suzanne Bricker at (301) 713-3020 x139 or Suzanne.Bricker@noaa.gov. 

NCCOS Represented on Interagency Testing Committee
A National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science researcher is currently serving as Vice-Chair of EPA’s Interagency Testing (ITC) Committee.  The ITC includes 16 federal member agencies and was established under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to identify chemicals regulated by TSCA for which there are suspicions of toxicity or exposure and little, if any, data on ecological effects, environmental fate, or health effects testing.  The ITC adds the chemicals identified to the Priority Testing List and recommends them to the Administrator of EPA for testing or information reporting.  The availability of fate and effects data for chemicals is critical to assessing possible environmental impacts.  For additional information, contact Tony Pait at (301) 713-3028 or Tony.Pait@noaa.gov. (CCMA)