Winter
 2019
Volume 8| Issue 1

 
In this issue
 

 



Feature
NOAA and Partners Explore Deep-Sea Habitats of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands
The jellyfish Crossota millsae documented south of La Parguera on the southwestern shore of Puerto Rico at a depth of a depth of 1,015 m. Image courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Océano Profundo 2018.

Between October 30 and November 20, 2018, NOAA and partners conducted a 22-day telepresence-enabled expedition on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer to collect critical baseline information about poorly understood deepwater areas surrounding Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The expedition used remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dives in combination with mapping operations to increase our understanding of deep-sea ecosystems of this poorly studied region, as well as to provide a foundation of publicly-accessible data to spur further exploration, research, and management activities.

The expedition included 19 ROV dives to depths ranging from 250-5,000 m that explored a wide diversity of habitats, including deep-sea fish and coral habitats, midwater habitats, submarine canyons, submarine landslides, and more. Overall, hundreds of different species were observed, including several potentially undescribed species and several substantial range extensions. In addition to ROV dives, over 14,959 km 2 of seafloor were mapped, including areas around Mona Island, Saba Valley, and Engaño Canyon that had never before been mapped using high-resolution sonars.

All 14.2 TB of video and environmental data collected on every ROV dive, mapping data, oceanographic and meteorological data, will be publically available through national archives in the coming months. Highlight images, videos, summaries and educational materials are already available via the expedition website  . A total of 63 scientists, managers, and students from 37 institutions in seven countries participated in the expedition as members of the science team through telepresence technology. In addition to science activities, the expedition also included numerous outreach and education efforts, including bilingual coverage on the expedition website, narration of the live video feeds, ship tours, school group presentations, media articles, and live interactions with scientists on board the ship. Over the course of the expedition, over 1.1 million people were engaged through these avenues.

Story by Daniel Wager. For more information, please contact [email protected] .

Stories Feature Stories 
Story3
Queen Snapper, Etelis oculatus, Habitat Utilization and Population Demographics in Puerto Rico
The geomorphology of Puerto Rico presents deepwater (>150 m) habitats in relatively close proximity to shore allowing fishing for mesophotic and deepwater species, such as queen snapper. Very little is known about queen snapper ( Etelis oculatus ), a commercially important fish species that inhabits deep water, but investigations into this fishery, particularly the habitats where it is found, are a high priority to both the Caribbean Fisheries Management Council (CFMC) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). This past fall, the NOAA NMFS Panama City Laboratory has been conducting a deep water video survey in Puerto Rico with the assistance of the Southeast Deep Coral Initiative (SEDCI) and the Cooperative Research Program (CRP).

Screenshot of a ledge feature with corals and silk snapper (Lutjanus vivanus) visible in 310 m of water off the west coast of Puerto Rico. 

Working side by side with commercial fishermen, this project is utilizing remote video cameras with LED lights attached to deep-drop fishing gear to record imagery of benthic habitats in the west, southeast, and northeast regions of Puerto Rico.  The video data will provide habitat classifications, percentage of bottom covered by specific biotic and abiotic organisms and features, fish counts, fish and coral identification, and data for species diversity. By analyzing habitat utilization and the distribution of queen snapper, not only will it add to our limited knowledge regarding habitat preference but it will also pave the way for future ecosystem based fisheries management (EBFM) and essential fish habitat (EFH) determination. Additionally, biological samples are taken from queen snapper to conduct age, growth and reproductive studies which will provide critical information needed for quantitative queen snapper stock assessments. For more information regarding this project, please contact Kate Overly ([email protected]) Fisheries Biologist.

Queen snapper (Etelis oculatus) caught off the west coast of Puerto Rico in 340 m of water.



Story2
Graduate Students Join Research Cruise On Board NOAA Ship Nancy Foster
NOAA scientists and graduate students have returned from a sediment sampling research cruise to contribute to NOAA's forecast of harmful algal bloom (HAB) events in the Gulf of Maine, while aboard NOAA Ship Nancy Foster from October 2-10, 2018. The cruise was not only a chance for NOAA scientists to gather information on HABs, it also gave two graduate students an opportunity to get their feet wet on board a NOAA vessel.  
Image courtesy of:  http://www.noaa.gov/education

Anthony Lima and Wanda Ortiz Báez are graduate students connected with NOAA partnerships that enable students to take part in NOAA research, gaining first-hand experience in Earth science careers. Anthony is a graduate student supported by NOAA's Educational Partnership Program with Minority Serving Institutions (EPP/MSI ). He attends the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, a partner institution of the NOAA Center for Coastal and Marine Ecosystems . Being involved in a NOAA EPP/MSI CSC has given Anthony unique career development opportunities. He reflects, "I have been able to network and learn with students and professional scientists all across the country in various aspects of marine science."

Wanda spent her formative years exploring the natural beauty around her island home of Puerto Rico. "I can't remember a time in my life when I didn't want to become a marine scientist," she says. "These experiences ignited in me a curiosity and profound admiration for the ocean and all the creatures in it."  Wanda works with the National Sea Grant College Program , which is a partnership between NOAA and 33 university-based programs in every coastal and Great Lakes state, Puerto Rico, and Guam. Wanda works with Puerto Rico Sea Grant , located at the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez Campus, where she is pursuing a master's degree in biological oceanography. "NOAA and Sea Grant have provided me with experiences that can help me shape my future for the better," she says. "Thanks to this, I'm even more motivated to continue pursuing a career in marine science."
RAEstory
Overcoming Marine Debris Post 2017 Hurricane Season
A derelict vessel displaced by Hurricane Irma in the USVI. Image credit: USVI Department of Planning and Natural Resources.

The 2017 hurricane season inflicted severe damage to communities and coastal resources over large areas of the Caribbean, Southeast and Texas, leaving a swath of destruction and large amounts of debris in the coastal zone of the affected states and territories. This debris poses hazards to navigation, commercial fishing grounds, and sensitive ecosystems.

With financial support from NOAA's Marine Debris Program, coastal states and territories impacted by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria received $17.2M in disaster relief funding to assess, remove, and dispose of hurricane related marine debris.
While FEMA and other agencies removed a great deal of marine debris during immediate emergency response operations, there are still large amounts of debris remaining.
Following the disaster, NOAA's Marine Debris Program worked with the states and territories to determine additional marine debris removal needs. The funding will support post-storm surveys and mapping of marine debris accumulation hot spots, and the removal and disposal of vessels, derelict fishing gear and traps, damaged piers, pilings and other large-scale debris.
Cleanup of the debris will benefit sensitive habitats such as near-shore reefs, mangroves and protected areas such as National Estuarine Research Reserves in Florida, Texas and Puerto Rico, and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
NOAA provided noncompetitive grants to  Florida, Texas, South Carolina, Georgia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.
To learn more about this story, contact Charles Grisafi ([email protected]).
OCM
NOAA OCM Provides Puerto Rico Managers and Geospatial Professionals with Flood Mapping and Planning Training

Lecture from OCM training.

As Puerto Rico continues to recover from the devastating 2017 hurricane season, coastal managers benefited from flood mapping and planning training built around recent recovery data collections. Office of Coastal Management led two training sessions in San Juan and Mayaguez to provide technical assistance, critical data, and skills associated with recovery efforts.The trainings were also offered again in 2018 to accommodate the high demand and strengthen relationships and support within the community. The technical GIS trainings used hands-on exercises with local data to build skill sets and lectures to teach participants how to use elevation and tidal data to visualize storm surge, high tide flooding, sea level rise, and tsunami scenarios. The skills and relevant authoritative data sets will help coastal managers to recover from, and prepare for, current and future impacts. Participants included representatives from FEMA, University of Puerto Rico, Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, Puerto Rico Sea Grant, and many local municipalities. OCM continues to provide support and technical assistance through the relationships built during onsite trainings and to provide the most recent data collections available for inundation planning, recovery, and resilience. To learn more about this contact Matt Pendleton ([email protected]) or learn more about the training  here.
Story4
Sea Grant Knauss Fellow Visits  Bioluminescent Bay in Puerto Rico 
Laguna Grande Bay in Fajardo, Puerto Rico; Credit: Lora Harris ([email protected])
Is bioluminescence good or bad? Or are we not sure? What is the relationship between bioluminescence, people and society?

During the summer of 2018, I had the opportunity as a NOAA Sea Grant Knauss Fellow to visit a popular bioluminescent bay in Puerto Rico: the Laguna Grande bay in Fajardo. During this trip, I saw firsthand a different picture than what I observed a few years before.

Bioluminescent bays are coastal embayments that at night show light onto surface sea waters, visible to the human eye. What I did not imagine was that a "top" tourist destination would show no light, or a blackout. Although this was not the first blackout for Fajardo bay, it was the first time I saw one. If I compare what I saw with other visits to popular bioluminescent bays in Puerto Rico, it is notable that there was no bioluminescence. Some visits to bioluminescent bays happened as a child accompanied by extended family, while others occurred recently as part of my dissertation research project. It was unexpected to see no light.

During an afternoon this summer, a local manager explained why Fajardo Bay is experiencing blackout as he described that sargassum travels from faraway places like the Amazon River circulating thru ocean currents until it gets to Puerto Rico. In regions like the Caribbean, sargassum are macroalgae (seaweed) plants that wash up on beaches via ocean currents and that float. The challenge for when sargassum arrive onto the coasts or oceans, as explained by scientists, is that when they die, they take out the oxygen from water and harm other sea life, because the water becomes like a "dead zone." This summer, the Puerto Rico local manager explained that after Hurricane María in September 2017, a series of sargassum waves have harmed the bioluminescent bays and other protected areas; a notable difference is that now these protected areas do not receive funding for their management activities. Find the full blog post,  written by Aixa Alemán-Díaz on Maryland Sea Grant's Fellowship Experiences blog.

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XPRIZE Finalists Test New Technologies for $1M NOAA Bonus Prize
As the world's leader in designing and managing incentive competitions to solve humanity's grand challenges, XPRIZE announced this week that the three finalist teams competing for the $1 million Bonus Prize sponsored by NOAA, in its Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE, have tested their technologies in Ponce, Puerto Rico.

The $1M NOAA Bonus Prize is part of the $7M Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE, a global competition challenging teams to advance ocean technologies for rapid, unmanned and high-resolution ocean exploration. To win the NOAA portion of the prize, competing teams need to demonstrate that their technology can identify and track a specified object in the ocean by tracing a biological or chemical signal to its source. The development of such technologies can help detect sources of pollution, identify hydrothermal vents and methane seeps, as well as track marine life for scientific research and conservation efforts. The winning devices could also be used to identify and track signals from sunken vessels including planes, ships, or submarines in the future.

Team Tampa Deep Sea Xplorers, one of the finalist teams competing in Puerto Rico for the $1M Bonus Prize sponsored by NOAA, in the $7M Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE (Photo: Business Wire)
For this final field test, XPRIZE partnered with the Government of Puerto Rico, the Port of Ponce Authority, the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez and its Department of Marine Science in La Parguera, the United States Coast Guard, the Caribbean Coastal Ocean Observing System (CARICOOS), Ponce Yacht and Fishing Club, and multiple other government, nonprofit and commercial organizations to provide additional support technology, vessels, and logistical assistance.

"We are committed to providing the infrastructure and logistics to support the demonstration of new and exciting technologies, and at the same time show the scientific world the many benefits Puerto Rico offers as an attractive destination for research and innovation," said Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló. "Puerto Rico's privileged location in the Caribbean makes it the ideal destination to carry out world-class research." To learn more about this, contact Monica Allen ([email protected]) or Nicole Ryan ([email protected]).

Events Upcoming Events

South Atlantic Coastal Study Webinar: Vision Meeting 1
February 27th, 2019 10:00-11:00 am (EST)

Vision Meeting 1 will provide information and initiate collaboration on the proposed South Atlantic Coastal Study scope and schedule. Regional meetings will follow as the study progresses providing opportunities for face-to-face discussion. 

Access the webinar presentation here: webinar
Audio information: 
Dial 877-336-1828
Access code 4348906#
Security Code 1111#
Announcements Announcements

General Announcements
Jobs and Funding Opportunities. We regularly update the NOAA in the Caribbean website with new jobs and funding opportunities. Check out the current list  here.

First of Multiple Stakeholder Meetings on the South Atlantic Coastal Study

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in partnership with Federal agencies and NGOs, is hosting the first of many stakeholder meetings on the South Atlantic Coastal Study (SACS). The study will address coastal storm risks of vulnerable coastal populations, infrastructure, ecosystems, and economies within the Corps' South Atlantic Division. A major goal is to leverage and support stakeholder efforts currently furthering coastal risk reduction and resilience. See meeting information above under upcoming events for future webinar and regional meeting details.
Figure SACS study area if from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers- South Atlantic Division.

Gary Harper, NWS Puerto Rico, named NOAA Team Member of the Month (November)

Gary Harper, NWS- NOAA Team Member of the Month

Gary Harper is being recognized for his pivotal role in returning Puerto Rico's NEXRAD Weather Radar to service after it was destroyed by Hurricane Maria in 2017.  As the on-site coordinator in Puerto Rico, Gary overcame numerous logistical problems associated with reconstructing a radar facility in a remote mountaintop location, on an island still recovering from a devastating storm, with significantly diminished public infrastructure.  Gary served as the first line of communication for all on-site related issues, and coordinated restoration activity with the Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and local Puerto Rican authorities. Through his diligence, expertise and innovative thinking, Gary overcame numerous obstacles and completed the restoration of the NEXRAD system prior to the 2018 hurricane season. Gary's hard work ensured that a critical public safety resource was available to safeguard the property and lives of the more than three million U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico.

NOAA in the Caribbean Newsletter

Please e-mail us at [email protected] 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.