Category: Ocean Chemistry and Ecosystems

Exploring Environmental DNA

Have you ever wondered what animals might be present in a particular habitat or traveled through a certain area of the ocean? Scientists are able to use environmental DNA or “eDNA” sampling to help answer those questions. NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) has recently released a new educational video series, “Exploring Environmental DNA” on their website and Youtube channel.

Read Full Article

Study Links Red Tide and Dead Zones off West Coast of Florida

This article is adapted from an article originally published by the University of Miami  Red tides caused by the algae Karenia brevis have become a near annual occurrence along the west coast of Florida, causing widespread ecological and economic harm. A new study analyzed 16 years of oceanographic data from across the West Florida Shelf […]

Read Full Article

The Spirit of International Cooperation Drives Oceanographic Discovery Aboard Tara

At 20:00 at 64°S in the austral summer month of February, the sun was still high in the sky. It cast a delicate light over the sea surface dotted with icebergs, which ranged from small misshapen chunks to massive angular structures with marbled cliffsides. In January and February 2022, I took part in an Antarctic voyage aboard the French schooner Tara. My participation was part of a partnership between NOAA and AtlantECO, a European-led consortium to characterize, quantify, and model Atlantic Ocean ecosystems.

Read Full Article

Building Endurance to Beat the Heat: New Study Preps Corals for Warming Waters

In a recent study published in the journal Coral Reefs, scientists at NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) found that staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) fragments exposed to an oscillating temperature treatment were better able to respond to heat stress caused by warming oceans.

Read Full Article

River Runoff Creates a Buffer Zone for Ocean Acidification in the Gulf of America

A new study by scientists at NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) and Northern Gulf Institute (NGI) has revealed the alkalinity of river runoff to be a crucial factor for slowing the pace of ocean acidification along the Gulf of America’s northern coast. This valuable, first-time finding may be indicative of ocean carbon chemistry patterns for other U.S. coastal areas significantly connected to rivers.

Read Full Article

Environmental DNA Sampling Gets an Upgrade and Transitions to New Open-Source Technology

Scientists at NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML),the Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS) at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, and the Northern Gulf Institute at Mississippi State University have engineered a new instrument that will provide valuable information about the biodiversity of aquatic ecosystems. A recently published paper in Hardware X describes the design and creation of a low-cost, open-source sub-surface automated environmental DNA (eDNA) sampler (SASe), for sampling eDNA in the water column. The SASe represents a milestone for AOML as one of the first pieces of technology to go through a rigorous transition process from the desks of scientists in the laboratory, through organizational approval channels, to the wider scientific community with full accessibility to the public.

Read Full Article

Coral Restoration and Resilience

Coral Restoration and Resilience Informing and Enhancing Coral Restoration  SCROLL TO LEARN MORE <!-- JUMP TO DATA OR SCROLL TO LEARN MORE --> What We Do Coral Reefs are being damaged by environmental change, pollution, ship groundings, and disease. Coral cover is declining worldwide, and widespread ecological degradation has impacted the structure, function, and services [...]
Read Full Article