Category: Ocean Awareness

Philippe Bourjon, CC BY-SA 3.0 , Sargassum_sp._Sargasse via Wikimedia Commons

Tracking Seaweed Blooms with the Sargassum Watch System

1/18/2023 - By secoora.org Sargassum is a brown macroalgae (also known as seaweed) that floats on the surface of the ocean and provides a critical habitat for fish and sea turtles; however, Sargassum can pose a problem when it blooms in mass quantities and washes up on beaches. Decomposing Sargassum not only… SEE MORE

David Broad, CC BY 3.0 ,Fish_farming_in_Aegean_Turkey_-_panoramio via Wikimedia Commons

Does Rebuilding an Island Rebuild Fish Habitat?

1/12/2023 - By fisheries.noaa.gov Scientists from the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office are investigating whether fish are using restored areas at Maryland’s Poplar Island. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="800"] Scientists retrieve fish caught in a fyke net near Poplar Island to record species, number, and lengths. Photo: NOAA Fisheries/NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office[/caption] Scientists at… SEE MORE

Annie Spratt, CC0,Striped_bass_at_the_Biodome via Wikimedia Commons

How To Catch Striped Bass From Shore

1/11/2023 - By farmersalmanac.com One of the best parts about catching striped bass is there is no need to have an expensive boat or spend hundreds of hours fishing to catch big ones. They are prized game fish that are accessible to everyone, known as “everyman’s fish.” With a few basic angling… SEE MORE

NOAA surveyors Charles Geoghegan and Benjamin Erickson

A Tale of Two Feet

1/10/2023 - By oceanservice.noaa.gov NOAA, NIST prepare to drop U.S. survey foot and adopt the international survey foot in a move towards more precise positioning. Since 1959, land surveyors and other geospatial professionals have had two standards to measure the length of a foot — the U.S. survey foot and the international… SEE MORE

Taras Bobrovytsky, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Researchers reveal add-on benefits of natural defenses against sea-level rise

1/9/2023 - By earth.stanford.edu Researchers modeled how investing in environmental conservation and protection can help San Mateo County adapt to rising seas. The findings provide incentives for policymakers to prioritize nature-based approaches when planning for sea-level rise. [caption id="attachment_44411" align="alignnone" width="682"] Doug Dolde aka Doug Dolde at en.wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia… SEE MORE

What are atmospheric rivers?

1/7/2023 - By noaa.gov Learn more about these rivers in the sky Atmospheric rivers are relatively long, narrow regions in the atmosphere – like rivers in the sky – that transport most of the water vapor outside of the tropics. These columns of vapor move with the weather, carrying an amount of… SEE MORE

The Other Hurricane Season

1/6/2023 - By gcaptain.com (Ocean Weather Service) – Each year there are, on average, about 6 hurricanes in the North Atlantic, 8 in the Eastern North Pacific and 17 Typhoons in the western North Pacific. Few people (outside of Mariners) realize that there is another season of hurricane winds that occurs over… SEE MORE

Mmelouk, CC BY-SA 4.0 Sharm_El_Sheikh_habitat_fish , via Wikimedia Commons

Does Rebuilding an Island Rebuild Fish Habitat?

1/5/2023 - By fisheries.noaa.gov Scientists from the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office are investigating whether fish are using restored areas at Maryland’s Poplar Island. Photo: NOAA Fisheries/NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office Scientists at the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office are monitoring fish at the Paul S. Sarbanes Ecosystem Restoration Project at Poplar Island. They plan to… SEE MORE

Derek Keats from Johannesburg, South Africa, CC BY 2.0 ,basketstarimage via Wikimedia Commons

Predicting Winners and Losers in a Warming Arctic

12/20/2022 - By fisheries.noaa.gov Habitat for key prey species may shrink dramatically if climate change continues on its current trajectory, new research shows. [caption id="attachment_44256" align="alignnone" width="553"] NOAA FIsheries, A basket star on the Alaska seafloor. Credit: NOAA Fisheries.[/caption] By the end of this century, Arctic ocean bottom temperatures may be too… SEE MORE

Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2022, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO ,North_Sea_bloom via Wikimedia Commons

Breathing Life into the Ocean

12/15/2022 - By earthobservatory.nasa.gov From global to regional scales, images from satellites portray the dynamic beauty of the world’s oceans. Each view reveals something unique, from the seasonal pulses of life to the colorful signature of phytoplankton blooms. Almost all life in the ocean depends on tiny photosynthetic organisms known as phytoplankton.… SEE MORE