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NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) delivers ecosystem science solutions for stewardship of the nation’s ocean and coastal resources to sustain thriving coastal communities and economies, in direct support of NOS priorities, offices, and customers.
NCCOS mapping products in the Gulf of Mexico and other regions are helping advance the nation’s clean energy goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030, while minimizing the wind industry’s impacts on protected species, habitats, and commercial and recreational fishing. Drawing on results of a spatial suitability model developed in partnership with NCCOS, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) this year designated two Wind Energy Areas in the Gulf of Mexico with the potential to produce enough renewable energy to power nearly three million homes. The NCCOS–BOEM model analyzed the entire Gulf of Mexico to find these roughly 683,000 acres that have the least conflict with other ocean uses and the lowest environmental impact. BOEM is now developing a notice for commercial leasing of the areas.
Wind turbines off the coast of Block Island, Rhode Island, June 2018. (Credit: Betsy Nicholson, NOAA)
An NCCOS study that detected environmental contamination at the Ochoa Fertilizer Company’s site in Guánica, Puerto Rico, ultimately led the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, to add the site to its National Priority List for hazardous waste cleanup. In 2023, EPA reached an agreement with the corporation that owns the land to remove contaminated soil from the site. NCCOS and partners began a program — also in 2023 — to monitor land-based sources of pollution that threaten coral ecosystems around Puerto Rico’s Culebra Island. Excess nutrients and sediments from unpaved roads, failing wastewater treatment systems, and coastal development have taken their toll on these coral ecosystems, and NOAA and other organizations have taken actions in recent years to address the problem. The monitoring program will help determine whether these corrective actions are succeeding.
Nearshore waters of Culebra Island, Puerto Rico, May 2023. (Credit: NOAA)
NCCOS awarded $16.1M this year for harmful algal bloom, or HAB, research and monitoring in U.S. coastal waters. Project findings and products will help mitigate HAB impacts, which can result in the loss of millions of dollars per outbreak — from medical treatments and advisories, beach and fishery closures, and reduced tourism. NCCOS staff also trained over 40 environmental tribal personnel from Southeast Alaska in HAB sampling and identification. Trainees will use the new knowledge to help the region reduce the threats of eating shellfish tainted with algal toxins. In Washington state, NCCOS-funded researchers estimated economic impacts from HAB-related razor clamming cancellations; the activity can generate as much as $40 million annually for the state. NOAA’s Pacific Northwest HAB Forecast, funded in part by NCCOS, provides shellfish managers with early warnings of HABs, enabling adaptive strategies that can help reduce economic losses.
Razor clamming on the Washington coast, October 2021. (Credit: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife)
At the end of 2022, the chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors referenced findings from an NCCOS-funded study in a motion directing the county to assess its stormwater infrastructure and address inequities in the system. The motion was immediately and unanimously adopted. The study that prompted the motion was published in October 2022 and used innovative flood-risk modeling to identify the severity and extent of flooding faced by Los Angeles County residents within a new, refined flood zone. Notably, the effort identified flood risk far greater than previous, federally defined floodplains. When combined with socioeconomic information, results showed disproportionate risk to disadvantaged communities, highlighting stark racial and economic inequalities.
Los Angeles flood risk study maps showing flood depth (right) and the distribution of residents by predominant race/ethnicity (left), October 2022. (Credit: University of California, Irvine)
NCCOS scientists have transferred and settled fertilized elkhorn and mountainous star coral larvae — species listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act — from reefs in the Florida Keys to NOAA’s Hollings Marine Laboratory in South Carolina. The larvae are continuing their development in the laboratory’s coral culture facility. Data from the study will allow coral restoration practitioners to better harness assisted coral reproduction for reef recovery and help scientists and managers better understand environmental threats to the early life stages of Caribbean corals. The work supports NOAA’s larger Mission: Iconic Reefs project, which aims to restore nearly three million square feet of the Florida Reef Tract over the next 20 years.
Coral culture facility at the Hollings Marine Laboratory in Charleston, South Carolina, August 2022. (Credit: NOAA)
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