Fall 2018
Volume 7| Issue 4

 
In this issue
 
 



Feature
NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer to explore deep-sea habitats of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands


From October 30 through November 20, 2018, NOAA and partners will conduct a telepresence-enabled ocean exploration expedition on  NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer to collect critical baseline information about deepwater areas surrounding Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands that are relatively unstudied. Building on a previous  Okeanos Explorer expedition to the Caribbean in 2015, the upcoming expedition will include remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and mapping operations to address science and management priorities put forward by NOAA, resource managers, and scientists from the region.  NOAA's dual-body ROV system will be used to explore a diversity of mid- and deep-water habitats and unique geological features such as deep-sea coral habitats, submarine canyons, seamounts, and trenches. Mapping operations will use NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer's state-of-the-art sonar systems and concentrate on seafloor and water column areas with little or no high-quality sonar data. Additionally, the expedition will use the ship's high-bandwidth satellite connection to engage a broad spectrum of scientists, resource managers, and the public in  telepresence-based exploration.

How to get involved?
Anyone with an Internet connection can follow along with the expedition as high-definition video of ROV dives are streamed live from October 31 through November 19, 2018. The same telepresence technology that will allow scientists to participate in this expedition from land will also enable interested members of the public to experience deep-sea exploration, the wonder of discovery, and the fascination of science in real time. Additionally, mission logs, daily updates, educational materials, and highlight videos will be added to the Ocean Explorer website and social media throughout the expedition. 

For more information contact the expedition coordinator (Daniel.Wagner@noaa.gov) or follow the links below:
Story contributed by Daniel Wagner, Katie Wagner, and Adrienne Copeland. 

Stories Feature Stories 
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NOAA Brings Green Infrastructure Training to Puerto Rico
Green or natural infrastructure is a proven, cost-effective approach to minimizing impacts from coastal flooding and hazards. NOAA's Office for Coastal Management, in partnership with Puerto Rico Sea Grant and Puerto Rico Coastal Zone Management Program, delivered a training in San Juan for Puerto Rican communities that are still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Maria and are interested in using green infrastructure techniques to reduce the impacts of future hazards. During the June 2018 training, participants from government agencies, non-profits, and academia shared project ideas for reducing pollution impacts to nearshore habitats, attenuating floodwaters in urban areas, and restoring natural areas along the coast for hazard protection. Attendees heard from local experts and discussed challenges and solutions, and left with goal of promoting green infrastructure throughout the island.

For more information, please contact Lauren Long, NOAA Coastal Conservation Specialist, at lauren.long@noaa.gov.

Workshop participants make presentations on project ideas and discuss challenges and solutions.

Mike Tolan (Left-CUNY) and Vanessa McKague (Center-UVI) deploy the dual Bongo frames for larval fish collection. (Photo credit: Vanessa McKague)
This summer, the FORCES Lab at NOAA Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) teamed up with physical oceanographers at NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML), as well as partners from universities in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, to participate in a research survey in the U.S. Caribbean. The effort, entitled Coral Reef Ecosystem Research (CRER), took place on NOAA Ship Nancy Foster, completing historical fisheries oceanography sampling around the U.S. and British Virgin Islands. Sampling was completed with CTD casts (or sonde, to measure conductivity, temperature and pressure), acoustic doppler current profiler transects, surface velocity program drifter deployments, and plankton nets of various sizes.
 Larval snapper collected near Grammanik Bank spawning grounds (Photo credit: NOAA FORCES Lab).
One of the objectives for the 2018 cruise was to characterize the oceanographic processes driving the dynamics of larval supply in these regions. Numerous commercially and ecologically valuable fish species spawn in these regions, and their larvae are subject to the local currents. This project collected data to investigate the levels of exchange of offshore waters onto the shelf break, and the level of connectivity between the northern U.S. Virgin Islands and St. Croix in the south.

Additionally, this survey took place during and after spawning events of locally valuable snapper species. Using models provided by the University of the Virgin Islands, as well as in situ diver observations, adaptive sampling was completed in an effort to collect larvae 5 to 10 days post-hatch.

For more information on the CRER project, contact Trika.Gerard@noaa.gov (SEFSC) or Ryan.Smith@noaa.gov (AOML).   
Truly collaborative: scientists from University of Puerto Rico, University of the Virgin Islands, City University of New York, University of South Florida, NOAA AOML and SEFSC, and NOAA Corps.
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NOAA Responds to Coral Disease Outbreak 
Since 2014, Florida's coral reefs have experienced a multi-year coral disease epidemic, which the science community is referring to as "Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease." NOAA is one of several agencies and academic organizations responding to the outbreak along with the State of Florida and the National Park Service.

While disease outbreaks are not unprecedented, this event is unique due to its large geographic range, extended duration, high rates of mortality, and the number of coral species affected. Nearly half of the stony coral species found on the Florida Reef Tract have been affected, including five threatened corals and many of the primary reef-building species.

The spread of the epidemic is ongoing and there is still much to be learned about this disease. NOAA scientists and partners are working to document the outbreak, identify a likely pathogen(s), understand what environmental factors may be contributing to the outbreak/spread of the disease, identify and immediately apply innovative and advanced treatments that may slow or halt the disease from spreading, rescue and bank healthy coral colonies and identify best practices to restore damaged habitats.

Reports of observations of this new disease have come in from Mexico, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Information on Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease and ongoing response efforts including species affected, signs of Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease and treatment options can be found here.

For more information, please contact Dana Wusinich-Mendez, Atlantic and Caribbean Team Lead, NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program: dana.wusinich-mendez@noaa.gov
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NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson presents survey work to Puerto Rico South Coast stakeholders
Almost one year following the passage and destruction of Hurricane Maria, NOAA Ship  Thomas Jefferson has returned to Puerto Rico. Following the storm, Thomas Jefferson deployed in September 2017 to conduct hydrographic hurricane response work in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (PR/USVI). The ship and crew surveyed 18 individual port facilities to ensure safety of navigation and help re-open the region for maritime commerce. Thomas Jefferson 's second major project of 2018 has brought the ship back to Puerto Rico from August to November, conducting follow-up survey work along the north and south coasts of the island.

NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson recovering hydrographic survey launch 2904 on September 7, 2018, in Bahia de Guayanilla, Puerto Rico. The vast majority of Thomas Jefferson's 2017 and 2018 survey work in and around Puerto Rico was completed with the ship's survey launches.

While anchored in Guayanilla Bay, Cmdr. Chris van Westendorp, the commanding officer of Thomas Jefferson, was invited by the Puerto Rico South Coast pilots to speak at a South Coast Harbor Safety & Security Committee meeting in Salinas. Attended quarterly by commercial, federal, and local maritime stakeholders, each meeting features presentations on a variety of topics such as harbor safety and preparedness, maritime security, and relevant oceanographic research (e.g. PR SeaGrant, PR Climate Change Commission).

Several presentations discussed ongoing Hurricane Maria recovery efforts, and conversations with attendees emphasized that storm effects still permeate businesses and the island economy. The meeting also revealed the existence of strong interagency relationships in the group. These connections enable close and effective collaboration among agencies and programs such as NOAA, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Sea Grant, in support of the region's environmental resources, economy, and security, as well as informing improved hurricane preparedness and response plans.

Cmdr. van Westendorp presents preliminary survey results to the Puerto Rico South Coast Harbor Safety & Security Committee from Thomas Jefferson's 2018 hydrographic survey project in San Juan, Ponce, and vicinity, Puerto Rico.
Accompanied by Coast Survey Atlantic Hydrographic Branch's Julia Wallace (ERT Contractor), Cmdr. van Westendorp presented a summary of the ship's 2017 post-Maria work, as well as current project plans and preliminary results. During and after the presentation, attendees showed particular interest in survey results in and around Guayanilla, Ponce, Jobos, Las Mareas, and Yabucoa; port areas previously identified by the South Coast pilots as critical for local and island-wide economies. The Coast Guard Captain of the Port (based in San Juan) and his staff also engaged Cmdr. van Westendorp and Ms. Wallace in conversations regarding the allocation and positioning of survey capabilities in preparation for major storm events in the PR/USVI region.

A year after the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria, it is clear that Thomas Jefferson's presence and ongoing work are gratefully received by and worthwhile to the people of Puerto Rico.

Story written by Cmdr. Chris van Westendorp, Commanding Officer of NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson and originally published as a NOAA Office of Coast Survey blog post.

For more information, please visit the NOAA Office of Coast Survey website and blog.
NOAA Southeast Fishery Science Center (SEFSC) is currently conducting a stock assessment for Caribbean Spiny Lobster, Panulirus argus , by island platform through the Southeast Data Assessment and Review Process (SEDAR). Assessment progress is reported during monthly webinars hosted by SEDAR between September and November 2018. 

The focus of the first webinar, held September 20th, was to identify suitable modeling methods based on the data available from each island platform to assess and predict the status of the stock. In the October 24th webinar scientists from the NOAA SEFSC and from the University of Miami CIMAS will continue working with the SEDAR 57 assessment panel to discuss and finalize modeling recommendations and begin to evaluate model results and sensitivities. By slightly varying data inputs and observing the behavior of the results, sensitivity analyses can help to characterize if the methods utilized to make stock predictions are robust to specific data uncertainties. 

Before the results and conclusions of the stock assessment are finalized and evaluated by the Caribbean Fisheries Management Council, the methods will be reviewed by independent experts during the SEDAR 57 Review Workshop that will be held in January 2019.

Story contributed by Adyan Rios, Research Biologist at the NOAA-NMFS SEFSC.

For additional information, please contact adyan.rios@noaa.gov.

A spiny lobster ( Panulirus argus ) peering from a reef crevice. 
Photo Credit: Jiangang Luo, University of Miami.
In support of the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP), NCCOS helps assess the status of U.S. coral reef resources. From 2016 to 2017, NCCOS scientists conducted field surveys of coral reef fish and benthic communities in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to develop data sets that are now available online (see below).

NCRMP is a multi-partner framework for conducting sustained observations of biological, climatic, and socioeconomic indicators in U.S. states and territories. The resulting data provide coral reef managers with a picture of the condition of U.S. coral reef ecosystems and the communities connected to them.

Partners on the 2016-2017 surveys include NOAA's Southeast Fisheries Science Center, the U.S. National Park Service, Puerto Rico's Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, the University of Puerto Rico, the University of the Virgin Islands, the Virgin Islands Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
For more information, contact Kimberly.Edwards@noaa.gov.

Sites sampled around island of Puerto Rico during 2016-2017 NCRMP season. 
Credit: NOAA.

Sites sampled around island of St. Croix, USVI, during 2017 NCRMP season. Credit: NOAA.

Sites sampled around islands of St. John and St. Thomas, USVI, during 2017 NCRMP season. Credit: NOAA.
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NCCOS scientist Matt Kendall prepares a fish trap for deployment in Salt River Bay, St. Croix, USVI. 
Credit: NOAA.
Earlier this month, NCCOS scientists and their partners completed fieldwork in St. Croix's Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve to determine the overall health of the bay.

The researchers from NCCOS, the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources, and the National Park Service collected sediment samples from the bay, which they will analyze for chemical contaminants and biomarkers (measurable indicators of severity or presence of disease, infection, or environmental exposure), and worked to characterize the community of organisms that live in the soft sea bottom. The team also deployed fish traps in the mangroves to characterize the juvenile fish community, and captured moray eels that were then implanted with coded acoustic transmitters as part of an ongoing effort to track the movement of fish within the bay.

Together, these assessments will provide managers of the bay with a measure of the system's overall health, along with data that can help inform plans to address threats to its natural resources.

For more information, contact Ian.Hartwell@noaa.gov, Matt.Kendall@noaa.gov, or Tony.Pait@noaa.gov.
Marine park staff from Honduras and Belize came together in Roatan in the Bay Islands of Honduras recently to work on financial planning tools and to develop financial strategies that will help to support effective management of their marine parks into the future.

The focus on sustainable financing for marine protected areas is part of a larger effort in the Caribbean through MPAConnect, a network of 30 high priority coral reef marine protected areas (MPA), which is an initiative of the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI) and NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program.

The Coordinator of the MPAConnect network, Ms. Emma Doyle, explains: "In 2017 we asked a group of 30 Caribbean MPA  about their highest priority management capacity needs. Primary among some 20 different aspects of management was the need for sustainable financing to support effective MPAs. Despite various national and regional initiatives that have sought to address sustainable financing strategies for Caribbean MPAs, the financing issue is still far from resolved."

Port Honduras Marine Reserve in Belize and Sandy Bay/West End Special Marine Protection Zone in Honduras are two allied marine protected areas that sought support from MPAConnect to work with financing experts from Wolfs Company, originating from Bonaire in the Dutch Caribbean. In a two-phase project the marine protected area managers met at each other's parks and have worked with Wolfs Company over the last 18 months.

"We know that sustainable financing requires creative solutions that are tailored to individual sites," commented Mr. Amilcar Guzman from Wolfs Company. "We helped these protected area managers to first assess the benefits that flow from their sites, to determine possible streams of revenue associated with these benefits, and to address obstacles affecting the flow of funds to their organizations."

Representatives from TIDE Belize and Roatan Marine Park in Roatán, Honduras 
(Photo: A. Guzmán).

The marine park staff assessed financial needs for effective MPA management and developed action plans to implement sustainable financing mechanisms for their organizations to ensure long-term benefits to the environment and local communities.

The Executive Director of TIDE Belize, co-manager of Port Honduras Marine Reserve, Ms. Celia Mahung commented: "Using Wolfs' new financial planning tool has helped us to clearly identify financial gaps, and the challenge is to continually find ways of diversifying our funding sources. We have a great start with generating our own income through TIDE Tours, but fundraising is an ongoing task."

Ms. Francis Lean, Executive Director of Roatan Marine Park which co-manages Sandy Bay/West End Special Marine Protection Zone, commented: "A key lesson for us is that the organization already has a diverse mix of revenue sources and some of these have the potential to help us bridge the financing gap that we, and so many other protected area managers face."

"We're strengthening priority revenue sources and using the outcomes of financial projections to refine our fundraising strategies. This way we're hoping to unlock new financing that will support core activities like education with local schools, coral reef research and monitoring, the promotion of sustainable tourism and enforcement patrols to ensure broad compliance with rules and regulations of the park," she added.

Looking further ahead, MPAConnect's capacity building and networking activities were recently approved by NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program to continue into 2019 and 2020. This will see the efforts on sustainable financing expand from these two sites in Belize and Honduras to the regional level, with a focus on MPA sustainable financing and communications for the 10 MPAConnect countries and territories.

For more information on sustainable financing for marine protected areas please contact Amílcar Guzmán at amilcar.guzman@wolfscompany.com.

Story contributed by Emma Doyle, MPA Connect Coordinator, Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI).
Story8 New LiDAR Datasets for Puerto Rico and Florida
New topobathy LiDAR datasets have recently been added to the NOAA Digital Coast service.

LIDAR-Light Detection and Ranging-is a remote sensing method used to examine the surface of the Earth. NOAA scientists are using LIDAR to produce more accurate shoreline maps, make digital elevation models for use in geographic information systems, to assist in emergency response operations, and in many other applications. LIDAR data sets for many coastal areas can be downloaded from the Office for Coastal Management Digital Coast web portal. Topobathy seamlessly merges topography and bathymetry into a single dataset.

 

(2) 2016 NOAA NGS Topobathy Lidar: Sugarloaf Key to Big Pine Key, FL

Points
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DEMs
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Events Upcoming Events

Caribbean Fishery Management Council Meeting
December 11-12
The 164th Caribbean Fishery Management Council (CFMC) regular meeting will be held December 11-12 at the  Vanderbilt Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico. For more information, see the CFMC website and the meeting agenda.
Announcements Announcements
NCCOS Announces FY19 Federal Funding Opportunities:
Harmful Algal Blooms
Deadlines: November 5, 2018 (Letters of Intent) & January 22, 2019  (Full Applications)

Proposals for funding will be accepted for two programs, the Monitoring and Event Response for Harmful Algal Blooms (MERHAB) program and the Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (ECOHAB) program. The deadline for Letters of Intent for both programs is November 5, 2018, for full MERHAB applications is January 22, 2019, and for full ECOHAB applications is February 4, 2019.

MERHAB expects to fund up to nine targeted and regional projects at the level of $200,000 to $600,000 per year per proposal, for up to five years. MERHAB builds the capacity of local, state, and tribal governments, regional observing systems, the wild and farmed seafood industry, and other HAB-impacted sectors for less costly and more precise and comprehensive HAB monitoring and response. Competitive proposals should meet one or more of the following priorities:
  • mitigate HAB impacts by incorporating research products into monitoring applications
  • and encouraging their adoption into routine operation;
  • compare new and existing technologies;
  • provide training needed to effectively utilize and support adoption of new monitoring
  • approaches; and
  • demonstrate the value of enhanced HAB monitoring for HAB early warning and forecasting.
ECOHAB expects to fund up to four regional projects at the level of $700,000 to $1,000,000 (including ship time) per year per proposal, for up to five years. Competitive projects should meet one or more of the following program objectives:
  • Develop quantitative understanding of harmful algal blooms (HABs) and, where applicable, their toxins in relation to the surrounding environment with the intent of developing new information and tools, predictive models and forecasts, and prevention strategies to aid managers in coastal environments.
  • Develop understanding leading to models of trophic transfer of toxins, knowledge of biosynthesis and metabolism of toxins, and assessment of impacts of toxins on higher trophic levels. Regional or cross-regional proposals addressing this objective are especially encouraged.
The full FFOs can be found here.

The NCCOS announcement can be found here.
NCCOS Announces FY19 Federal Funding Opportunities:
Ecological Effects of Sea Level Rise (EESLR) Program
Deadlines: November 2, 2018 (Letters of Intent) & January 16, 2019  (Full Applications)

EESLR will fund up to six projects for a duration of two to three years at a level not to exceed $250,000 per year per proposal.

Competitive project proposals should aim to improve adaptation and planning in response to regional and local effects of sea level rise and coastal inundation through targeted research on key technologies, natural and nature-based infrastructure, physical and biological processes, and model evaluation.

The overall goal of EESLR is to facilitate informed adaptation planning and coastal management decisions through a multidisciplinary research program. Resulting products could be integrated models and tools of dynamic physical and biological processes capable of evaluating vulnerability and resilience under multiple sea level rise, inundation, and management scenarios.

Letters of intent are due by 11:59 PM on November 2, 2018, while full proposals are due by January 16, 2019.

The full FFO can be found here.

The NCCOS announcement can be found here.
Marine Debris Funding Opportunity
Deadline: December 14, 2018

The NOAA Marine Debris Program is proud to announce our FY19 Marine Debris Research federal funding opportunity.  This opportunity provides funding for research directly related to marine debris through field, laboratory, and modeling experiments.  For more details, please visit the websites below. Proposals are due December 14, 2018.  

Grants.gov:

Research FFO:
NOAA in the Caribbean Newsletter

Please e-mail us at CaribbeanNews@noaa.gov to subscribe or unsubscribe to the newsletter or to submit any questions, comments, story ideas, artwork or photographs. 

NOAA in the Caribbean Newsletter is produced by the NOAA in the Caribbean Steering Committee, including support from NOAA's Office of International Affairs, Southeast And Caribbean Regional Collaboration Team, Office for Coastal Management, National Marine Fisheries Service SE Regional Office, Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs, and National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science.