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Projects
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 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 ...
Advancing an Integrated HAB Detection and Monitori...
This project will improve monitoring and response to harmful blooms of cyanobacteria and marine algae and a suite of algal toxins they produce that have been documented across the freshwater ...
Advancing Natural Solutions to Sea Level Rise Impa...
We are advancing technical guidance to provide resource managers critical information to better prioritize and weigh trade offs among different coastal management strategies along 300 miles of the north-central California ...
Aerosolized Coastal Water Pollution Impacts Study
Ocean pollutants that get trapped in the surf zone can become aerosolized and transported through the air to inland locations. We are working to better understand the ocean and atmospheric ...
Aggression is a Symptom of Domoic Acid Poisoning i...
To gain a better understanding of symptoms experienced by California sea lions caused by the toxin domoic acid, we are studying the relationship between aggression and seizure behavior in laboratory ...
An Economic Analysis of Shipping Costs Related to ...
Through an analysis of shipping costs, we provided scientific guidance to the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS) and other agencies, regarding the economic effects of potential management measures that ...
Analysis of the Distribution and Abundance of Grou...
We developed maps of occurrence and relative abundance for selected groundfish off the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington, within the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem (CCLME). Our project supports ...
Application of Quantitative Molecular Methods to C...
This project supports development for two lab-based quantitative molecular methods for more rapid, accurate detection of Alexandrium catenella resting cysts in sediment from the Gulf of Maine, Puget Sound, and ...
Assessing the Geographic Variability in Vulnerabil...
Coastal communities are increasingly vulnerable to climate effects, such as sea level rise and coastal erosion. To address these and other changing coastal risks in Los Angeles County, NCCOS researchers ...
News
Hardening Shorelines to Reduce Saltwater Intrusion...
Some coastal communities build seawalls in hopes of keeping saltwater from mixing with the freshwater aquifers they rely on for drinking water. However, as new NCCOS-funded research shows, seawalls may ...
Collaboratively Identifying Nature-Based Solutions...
Meeting attendees visited Mugu Point while discussing potential nature-based solution options. Credit: USACE NCCOS scientists recently visited the Navy Base Ventura County (NBVC) to explore the use of nature-based solutions ...
Coastal Eddies Promote Large-scale Algal Response ...
A NCCOS-funded study found that anthropogenic nutrients are promoting enhanced algal productivity in the Southern California Bight (SCB), that is predicted to result in an offshore zone of lowered subsurface ...
Hypoxic Area off Pacific Northwest Coast has Grown...
Massive die-offs of Dungeness crab have been documented off the Pacific Northwest Coast. Once dead, the crabs often wash up on beaches, such as these crabs photographed on Kalaloch Beach ...
Sediment Management Guide Supports Coastal Resilie...
Doran Beach, California, helps protect wetlands and a key harbor from storm surge and rising sea levels, but the dunes are gradually eroding and need to adapt to future changes ...
NOAA’s Mussel Watch Program Expands Coastal Contam...
Members of the NCCOS Mussel Watch Program and the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Southeast Fisheries Science Center sample oysters near Corpus Christi, Texas, on January 26, 2024. Credit: NOAA. NOAA’s ...
Study Explores Sustainable Siting of Aquaculture a...
Aquaculture pen filled with finfish floating in the water. Credit: NOAA Fisheries. A new publication from NCCOS researchers and partners details innovative spatial planning methods for aquaculture siting. The study, ...
First Calculation of Artificial Reef Area in U.S. ...
Understanding the ecological value of artificial reefs will help inform sustainable use of these structures for ocean wildlife and human activities. Credit: J. McCord, CSI. A new peer-reviewed publication in ...
Marine Mammal Strandings in Southern California Pr...
NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal and Ocean Science (NCCOS) Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) Event Response program awarded $12,550 to Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP), University of California- Santa ...
Flood Model Predicts Impacts, Benefits of Differen...
A new study, partially funded by NCCOS, developed a framework for evaluating the physical, economic, and demographic impacts and benefits of engineered, nature-based, and hybrid adaptation strategies to address coastal ...
Products
Maps, Tools & Applications
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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Data & Publications
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 comparison of seafloor habitats and associated benthic fauna in areas open and closed to bottom trawling along the central California continental shelf
A number of studies have shown that mobile, bottom-contact fishing gear (such as otter trawls) can alter seafloor habitats and associated biota. Considerably less is known about the recovery of these resources following such disturbances, though this information is critical ...
A decade and a half of Pseudo-nitzschia spp. and domoic acid along the coast of southern California
Blooms of the marine diatom genus Pseudo-nitzschia that produce the neurotoxin domoic acid have been documented with regularity along the coast of southern California since 2003, with the occurrence of the toxin in shellfish tissue predating information on domoic acid ...
A guinea pig's tale: learning to review end-to-end marine ecosystem models for management applications
A shift towards ecosystem-based management in recent decades has led to new analytical tools such as end-to-end marine ecosystem models. End-to-end models are complex and typically simulate full ecosystems from oceanography to foodwebs and fisheries, operate on a spatial framework, ...
An Economic Analysis of Shipping Costs Related to Potential Measures to Manage the Co-Occurrence of Maritime Vessel Traffic and Whales in the Channel Islands Region
This report provides findings from an analysis and evaluation of the economic effects of potential measures to manage the co-occurrence of shipping traffic and whales in the Channel Islands region off the coast of California. These potential management measures are ...
Assessing biophysical controls on Gulf of Mexico hypoxia through probabilistic modeling
A mechanistic model was developed to predict midsummer bottom-water dissolved oxygen (BWDO) concentration and hypoxic area on the Louisiana shelf of the northern Gulf of Mexico, USA (1985–2011). Because of its parsimonious formulation, the model possesses many of the benefits ...
Benthic Characterization of Deep-Water Habitat in the Newly Expanded Areas of Cordell Bank and Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuaries
A large area of the seafloor off northern California lies within the US National Marine Sanctuary System, but very little of the habitat has been explored and even less is characterized using visual survey techniques, especially deep-water habitats. Benthic surveys ...
Blooms of Pseudo-nitzschia and Domoic Acid in the San Pedro Channel and Los Angeles Harbor Areas of the Southern California Bight, 2003-2004
Abundances of Pseudo-nitzschia spp. and concentrations of particulate domoic acid (DA) were determined in the Southern California Bight (SCB) along the coasts of Los Angeles and Orange Counties during spring and summer of 2003 and 2004. At least 1500 km2 ...
Blurred lines: Multiple freshwater and marine algal toxins at the land-sea interface of San Francisco Bay, California
San Francisco Bay (SFB) is a eutrophic estuary that harbors both freshwater and marine toxigenic organisms that are responsible for harmful algal blooms. While there are few commercial fishery harvests within SFB, recreational and subsistence harvesting for shellfish is common ...
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