IOOS News

Jan Newton of NANOOS Presents on the Use of OA Data for Education

Ocean acidification has the potential to fundamentally change the ocean, its habitats, food webs and marine life. In support of the shellfish industry, resource managers, researchers and citizens potentially affected by ocean acidification, the U.S. IOOS (Integrated Ocean Observing System), the Regional Associations of IOOS, and the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program (NOAA OAP) are working to provide critical real time data of ocean water conditions related ocean acidification to anyone with an internet connection.

In this presentation we will share information about IOOS, and demonstrate how the Regional Associations of IOOS along the West Coast are working to meet the data and information needs of shellfish growers and others for monitoring for ocean acidification. We will demonstrate the new IOOS Pacific Region Ocean Acidification data portal and sharehow to access information and data related to ocean acidification.

GCOOS Creates Flyer on National Energy Security

Over 30% of U.S. energy production and 40% of petroleum refining resources are located in the Gulf of Mexico (EIA, 2013), with more anticipated, and these are at risk from a broad range of threats, including weather (hurricanes, tropical storms, Loop Current changes, long-term ocean change), land subsidence, and terrorism. Damage to these energy resources incur high economic and ecological costs and threaten our Nation’s Energy Security. This flyer focuses specifically on weather threats and how GCOOS/IOOS helps reduce the impacts of those threats through environmental intelligence.

California Sea Grant Fellow: Laura Lilly

In 2012 a memorandum of understanding was signed by the West Coast OOSes and the WCGA to collaborate on ocean health issues like marine debris and ocean acidification.  An outcome of this agreement resulted in a one-year West Coast Oceanographic Data Integration Fellowship that began November 2013. Laura Lilly, who currently sits at the SCCOOS program office at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, will focus on the identification of priority regional management questions and information needs. She will work with state ocean acidification science panels and the WCGA Marine Debris Action Coordination team to understand the oceanographic data needs and develop products tailored to meet those needs. The data products will be made available through the West Coast OOS sites, WCGA, and state data portals for wide dissemination. The fellowship was administered by California Sea Grant. If you wish to learn more or contribute your data to the Portal, please contact Todd Hallenbeck (Todd.r.hallenbeck@Westcoastoceans.org).

Read her first blog post titled, "Chasing Waves and Navigating West Coast Ocean Policy."

IOOS Releases Red Tide Video

Marine and fresh waters teem with algae, much of it microscopic and harmless, which forms the base for our complex aquatic food webs. Some algae, though, produce potent toxins that can cause die-offs of marine animals like manatees and sicken or even kill us when we eat contaminated seafood or use tainted water. Other non-toxic algae produce high biomass that reduces water quality and damages critical marine habitat. Harmful algal blooms now impact every coastal region.  IOOS has released a video about these effects and what they are doing to help.

NOAA maintains an operational HAB forecasting system to help states and industry manage risks from harmful algal blooms that now impact every coastal region. Real-time environmental data from IOOS has also proven critical for assessing HAB threats. In the Puget Sound, hourly ocean temperature and current data have helped scientists identify conditions that can trigger toxic algae outbreaks and make shellfish unsafe to eat supporting an alert to Puget Sound oyster growers. Integrating routine HAB cell and toxin abundance data into IOOS regional networks will enhance these alerts and our ability to predict movement of HAB events so decision makers can take targeted action, such as closing a beach to avoid illnesses caused by blooms of harmful algae.