Cordell Marine Sanctuary Foundation has supported monitoring of oxygen concentrations in the water around Cordell Bank for the past 5 years. This work is essential to understanding patterns of low oxygen in the ocean and the effects it has on marine wildlife – important information for effectively protecting ocean ecosystems. Oxygen is necessary to support… Continue reading Hypoxia Studies in Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary Funded by CMSF
Author: Riley Brathurst
2018 Projects and Plans for 2019
In 2018, funding from the Cordell Marine Sanctuary Foundation supported several important research and education projects, including: Deployment and retrieval of two oxygen sensors. Low oxygen, or hypoxia, can have severe impacts on marine wildlife. This work, part of an ongoing collaboration between Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary and the U.C. Davis Bodega Marine Lab,… Continue reading 2018 Projects and Plans for 2019
Urge Congress to Support Our Sanctuaries!
Just as our National Parks protect natural treasures on land, the Marine Sanctuary system allows for protection of vital aquatic resources. These ocean and Great Lake regions are biologically unique, hold historic significance, and offer vistas of incomparable physical beauty. Please contact your Representative in Congress and your Senators today and urge them to fully fund… Continue reading Urge Congress to Support Our Sanctuaries!
Life on Cordell Bank Surveyed via ROV Imagery
Photos and video taken during ROV transect surveys of Cordell Bank form the basis of a new report from NOAA scientists. The animals and plants living attached to the surface of the Cordell Bank are identified in this first ever quantitative visual census of benthic marine life. The good news from the report chronicles vibrantly healthy… Continue reading Life on Cordell Bank Surveyed via ROV Imagery
New Underwater Cordell Bank Photos!
The Bay Area Underwater Explorers recently dove on Cordell Bank with a permit from the Sanctuary. They posted some of their photos here.
Cordell Bank NMS Listening to Shipping and Whales in 2 year study
The Cordell Bank NMS research coordinator Danielle Lipski and colleagues have deployed an acoustic recording device in the Sanctuary waters as part of a two year study on ocean noise. The CBNMS placement is 1 of 11 in the seas around North America and Hawaii, including the Gulf of Mexico and arctic Alaska. Global shipping… Continue reading Cordell Bank NMS Listening to Shipping and Whales in 2 year study
Cordell Bank and Farallones Marine Sanctuaries expand to protect Sonoma and southern Mendocino coastal and off shore waters
The long planned for expansion of the Cordell Bank and Farallones National Marine Sanctuaries will protect the coastal and off shore seas of the coast north of San Francisco to southern Mendocino County. Details on the expansion can be found by clicking HERE.
Studies of pelagic ecosystem getting underway at Cordell Bank
Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary (CBNMS) scientists will begin this week the 12th year of sampling the pelagic and nearshore ecosystem as part of Applied California Current Ecosystem Studies (ACCESS), a joint project with Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and Point Blue Conservation Science. Cordell Marine Sanctuary Foundation has provided funding support… Continue reading Studies of pelagic ecosystem getting underway at Cordell Bank
Hypoxia Monitoring Moorings Deployed at Cordell Bank
Two moorings outfitted with oceanographic instruments are again positioned at Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary (CBNMS) for the second year in a row after CBNMS staff worked with Bodega Marine Lab scientists to re-deploy the moorings on May 19, 2015 for the spring through fall seasons. Cordell Marine Sanctuary Foundation again provided funding to CBNMS for the project this year and Danielle Lipski, CBNMS Research Coordinator, worked with Dr. John Largier and Matt Robart at Bodega Marine Lab (BML) to build and instrument the moorings. Low oxygen water naturally occurs in the deep ocean but intrusions of hypoxic (meaning “low oxygen”) water has been found in more shallow waters along the US west coast in recent years. Low dissolved oxygen levels had been recorded along the north central California coast for the first time in 2013 by BML and in 2014 CBNMS and BML worked together to place sensors at Cordell Bank to learn if low oxygen water was present at the bank. The bank is inhabited by a vibrant invertebrate and rockfish community which could be vulnerable to hypoxic conditions. Results from 2014 showed that hypoxic or near-hypoxic conditions were recorded at the buoys for about two weeks in June and July following strong winds and upwelling conditions.
Final plan for North Coast marine sanctuary expansion expected soon
BY MARY CALLAHAN THE PRESS DEMOCRAT March 6, 2015 A dispute with the Coast Guard that for more than a month has stalled expansion plans for adjoining marine sanctuaries off the California coast appears to be resolved, paving the way for publication of the final regulatory proposal. North Coast Congressman Jared Huffman said Thursday he… Continue reading Final plan for North Coast marine sanctuary expansion expected soon