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NOAA Report Finds Threats to California's Cordell Bank Marine Sanctuary
June 19, 2009A new NOAA report on the health of Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary indicates that the overall condition of the sanctuary's marine life and habitats is fair to good, but identifies several emerging threats to sanctuary resources.
"Global issues of concern such as marine debris, ocean acidification and invasive species have the potential to degrade fragile sanctuary resources and habitats," said Dan Howard, sanctuary superintendent. "This report provides a baseline for monitoring changes to sanctuary resources and will help us to better understand and respond to these emerging threats."
Prepared by NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, the peer-reviewed Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary Condition Report indicates that water quality in the sanctuary is generally good due to the sanctuary's offshore location and distance from major urban population centers. Seafloor habitat quality was rated lower, primarily due to prior impacts from fishing gear that came into contact with the sanctuary's rocky reef and soft sediment habitats.
The report notes that populations of rockfish, salmon, some seabird species, and leatherback sea turtles that use the sanctuary are depleted, but that fishery closures are helping to rebuild depleted fish stocks.
The report indicates that additional research is needed about contaminants and invasive species. While no maritime archaeological resources have been identified in the sanctuary, only 18 percent of the sanctuary seafloor has been mapped with high resolution tools that could be used to find sunken vessels.
The full sanctuary condition report is now available online. Similar reports are being developed for the other sites in the National Marine Sanctuary System.
Located 42 miles north of San Francisco, Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary is one of 14 marine protected areas managed by NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. Designated by Congress in 1989, the sanctuary's productive waters are a destination feeding area for local and migratory marine life. Its unique rocky undersea thrives with invertebrates and fishes and is surrounded by the softer sediments of the continental shelf.
NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The report notes that populations of rockfish, salmon, some seabird species, and leatherback sea turtles that use the sanctuary are depleted, but that fishery closures are helping to rebuild depleted fish stocks.
The report indicates that additional research is needed about contaminants and invasive species. While no maritime archaeological resources have been identified in the sanctuary, only 18 percent of the sanctuary seafloor has been mapped with high resolution tools that could be used to find sunken vessels.
The full sanctuary condition report is now available online. Similar reports are being developed for the other sites in the National Marine Sanctuary System.
Located 42 miles north of San Francisco, Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary is one of 14 marine protected areas managed by NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. Designated by Congress in 1989, the sanctuary's productive waters are a destination feeding area for local and migratory marine life. Its unique rocky undersea thrives with invertebrates and fishes and is surrounded by the softer sediments of the continental shelf.
NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Marine Sanctuary Current Events and Marine Sanctuary News RSSNOAA Locates U.S. Navy Ship Sunk in World War II Battle
A NOAA-led research mission has located and identified the final resting place of the YP-389, a U.S. Navy patrol boat sunk approximately 20 miles off the coast of Cape Hatteras, NC, by a German submarine during World War II.
NOAA Scientists Map Fish Habitat and Movements at Gray's Reef Marine Sanctuary
Two related research expeditions by NOAA scientists to track the habitat preferences and movements of fish at Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary may help managers protect overfished species such as red snapper and grouper.
NOAA report finds flower garden banks sanctuary reefs among healthiest in Gulf
Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary is among the healthiest coral reef ecosystems in the tropical Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, according to a new NOAA report.
NOAA and partners to survey ships sunk off north Carolina in World War II
NOAA will lead a three-week research expedition in August to study World War II shipwrecks sunk in 1942 off the coast of North Carolina during the Battle of the Atlantic.
NOAA and partners to survey marine life at USS Monitor wreck site
NOAA will participate in a private research expedition to study marine life living on and around the wreck of the USS Monitor.
NOAA, USFWS study finds potential disease threats to Washington sea otters
Many of Washington State's sea otters are exposed to the same pathogens responsible for causing disease in marine mammal populations in other parts of the country.
Seamounts may serve as refuges for deep-sea animals that struggle to survive elsewhere
Over the last two decades, marine biologists have discovered lush forests of deep-sea corals and sponges growing on seamounts (underwater mountains) offshore of the California coast. It has generally been assumed that many of these animals live only on seamounts, and are found nowhere else.
NOAA and partners to survey German subs sunk off North Carolina during World War II
NOAA will lead a research expedition July 7-26 to study the wrecks of three German submarines sunk by U.S. forces in 1942 off the coast of North Carolina during the Battle of the Atlantic.
Dry Tortugas show positive trends: Protected area slowly rebounding
A team of 38 research divers from the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, NOAA Fisheries Service, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the National Park Service, REEF, and the University of North Carolina at Wilmington recently completed a successful 20-day biennial census to measure how the protected status of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary's Tortugas Ecological Reserve and Dry Tortugas National Park's Research Natural Area are helping the regional ecosystem rebound from decades of overfishing and environmental changes.
New Whale Detection Buoys Will Help Ships Take the Right Way through Marine Habitat
Researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the Bioacoustics Research Program (BRP) at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology have teamed up with an international energy company and federal regulators to listen for and help protect endangered North Atlantic right whales in New England waters.
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