Building Partnerships

for a Healthier Gulf

August 2024

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News

New project monitors water conditions east of the Mississippi River

For the first time in many years, the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium expanded their annual hypoxia cruise east of the Mississippi River, thanks to funding from GOMA's Water Resources Team. Results show a 1,634 square mile hypoxic zone off Mississippi and Alabama in addition to this year's larger than average 6,705 square mile zone off Louisiana. Knowing when and where coastal dead zones occur helps coastal policymakers, commercial and recreational fishers, and tourism officials prep for impacts and plan for the future. This project is supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Marine Debris Cross-Team investigating microplastics

Working with our partners at Mississippi State University, GOMA's Marine Debris Cross-Team is supporting a new project to understand where microplastics occur in the Gulf of Mexico by collecting samples during offshore cruises and providing hands-on opportunities to students from diverse backgrounds. The Gulf of Mexico has some of the highest concentrations of microplastics in the world and this project will help scientists understand more about this critical, emerging topic.

This project is supported by CITGO through our Gulf Star Program.

Volunteers document dolphin behavior and educate the public on marine debris

Sixteen volunteers recently completed two days of intensive training at the Dolphin Research and Outreach Station at Seawolf Park in Texas. Through the Galveston Bay Foundation's Dolphin Research Program, these volunteers document fisher-dolphin interactions and capture photos for future research. They also use this opportunity to educate the public about marine debris and the importance of recycling monofilament fishing line. This training is made possible with support from Hess through our Gulf Star Program.

Mark your calendars for our upcoming Team mid-year meetings

Our Teams and Cross-Teams have scheduled their mid-year meetings. Teams will discuss current and future projects, so now is an excellent time to join. Meeting agendas are now on the GOMA website.

Meetings: (all meetings are virtual unless noted below)

Oct. 16-17: Water Resources Team

Oct. 22-23: Data and Monitoring Team

Oct. 24 & Nov. 21: Wildlife and Fisheries Team

Oct. 28-30: Coastal Community Resilience Team (in-person/Biloxi, MS)

Oct. 29-30: Marine Debris Cross-Team

Nov. 6 & Nov. 12: Habitat Resources Team

View agendas and register

Workshop in Corpus Christi strengthens community resilience

Our Coastal Community Resilience Team, in partnership with the City of Corpus Christi, Harte Research Institute, and Halff Associates, recently hosted a Community Resilience Index (CRI) workshop in Corpus Christi, Texas. Over 20 participants, including representatives from city planning, public works, and local utilities, attended.

The workshop also incorporated the GeoRED mapping tool to help participants visualize risks to critical infrastructure, marking the first time CRI and GeoRED were used together.

This project is supported by CITGO through our Gulf Star program. The next phase involves implementing a resilience project chosen by the city.

Tool of the Month

MultiscaleDTM: Multiscale Geomorphometric Analysis of Bathymetry and Elevation Data

MultiscaleDTM is a free, open-source R package created by Ilich, A. R., Misiuk, B., Lecours, V., & Murawski, S. A. that allows for the calculation of features from bathymetry and elevation surfaces at multiple spatial scales from each of the five major terrain attribute groups: slope, orientation, curvature, relative position, and roughness. This tool is designed for scientists who would like to use terrain attributes in their analyses.

Learn more

Partner News

Several EPA Gulf of Mexico Division funding opportunities announced

The EPA's Gulf of Mexico Division has current funding opportunities that many of our team members will be interested in. Opportunities focus on water quality monitoring, microplastics, fisher-led trash prevention, and a trash free waters art and slogan competition.

Partnership funds synthesis science and postdoctoral research in the Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf Ecosystem Initiative (GEI) is partnership between the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis and the NOAA RESTORE Science Program. The group works on three main areas: fisheries, climate change, and the ecological impacts of management actions. This year, the GEI has created two new working groups, one focused on cobia and the other on restoring fish habitat in Florida's estuaries.

NOAA is accepting letters of intent through Sept. 27 for 2025 marine debris removal funds

As part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the NOAA Marine Debris Program is accepting letters of intent for two funding opportunities. Up to $54 million in funding will go to awardees with projects that support large marine debris removal and/or the installation of proven marine debris interception technologies.

Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies offers free online training for oyster farming industry

A new online platform managed by the Oyster Resource and Recovery Center at Harte Research Institute will provide free courses to those interested in oyster farming. A Spanish-language version will roll out in the next few months.

Orange Beach, Alabama, project comes to a completion; provides potential restoration options

A project funded by the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council (RESTORE Council) and implemented by Auburn University has been completed in two popular coastal water bodies in Orange Beach, Alabama: Terry Cove and Cotton Bayou. The goal of this project was to develop a science-based, comprehensive understanding of the factors governing the health of these areas, and to create a plan for restoration.