National Ocean Service

About: National Ocean Service is a government organization based out in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Algal bloom & Population. The organization has 500 authors who have published 643 publications receiving 46096 citations.

Application of two indices of benthic community condition in Chesapeake Bay

Abstract: SUMMARY The Chesapeake Bay Benthic Index of Biotic Integrity (B-IBI) and the Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program’s Virginian Province Benthic Index (EMAP-VP BI) were applied to 294 sampling events in Chesapeake Bay and the results were compared. These estuarine benthic indices are intended to identify benthic invertebrate assemblages that have been degraded by low dissolved oxygen concentrations or high concentrations of chemical contaminants. The B-IBI includes several community measures and weights them equally using a simple scoring system that compares them against values expected for undegraded sites. It includes 11 measures of species diversity, productivity, indicator species and trophic composition. The EMAP-VP BI uses discriminant function coefficients to weight contributions of species diversity and the abundances of two indicator families. The two indices agreed on degraded or undegraded classifications for benthos at 81.3% of the sites. This level of agreement is within the level of accuracy achieved during index development and, therefore, may approach the limits that can be achieved. The indices were strongly associated (Pearson’s r ¼ 0.75). The B-IBI was more conservative than the EMAP-VP BI, classifying 72.7% of the disagreements as degraded. The 55 sites where the indices disagreed were distributed in different habitats throughout the Bay except polyhaline sand. Many of the classification disagreements were at sites with index values close to, but on opposite sides of, the degraded–undegraded thresholds, with 49.1% of the B-IBI values within 0.5 units and 81.8% within 1.0 units; the corresponding values for sites where both indices agreed were only 23.4% and 62.7%, respectively. The pattern for the EMAP-VP BI was similar, with 61.8% and 74.6% of disagreements and only 18.8% and 38.9% of agreements within 0.5 and 1.0 units of the threshold. Although the close agreement suggests that either index is suitable for evaluating the benthic condition, the B-IBI offers some additional advantages. Copyright # 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

16S rRNA Targeted Probes for the Identification of Bacterial Strains Isolated from Cultures of the Toxic Dinoflagellate Alexandrium tamarense.

Abstract: Bacteria have been implicated in the production of paralytic shellfish poison (PSP) toxins, which are normally associated with bloom-forming algal species, specifically toxic dinoflagellate algae. To clarify the role that these bacteria may play in the production of PSP toxins, it is desirable to identify and localize the bacteria associated with the dinoflagellates. 16S rRNA-targeted probes offer the possibility for both, and thus, probes have been made to putatively toxigenic bacteria isolated from the PSP-related dinoflagellate Alexandrium tamarense and tested for their specificity in dot blot and in situ hybridization experiments.

Sedation at Sea of Entangled North Atlantic Right Whales (Eubalaena glacialis) to Enhance Disentanglement

Abstract: Competing Interests: With regards to Dr. Brunson's current employment at Pfizer Inc., Dr. Brunson was an employee of the University of Wisconsin Veterinary School for the duration of his primary involvement with the project from 1998 to 2002. His mailing address in the manuscript is given as Pfizer, as that is his current place of employment. Since he has been at Pfizer, the choice of drugs for procurement and deployment for the second right whale case were made by other authors, primarily at the University of Florida (Drs. Walsh and Bailey). No drugs have been procured from or donated by Pfizer. There are no products in development at Pfizer related to this research and employment. The current and likely future source of drugs for use in the methods described in this paper will be from ZooPharm (http://www.zoopharm.net/), a division of Wildlife Pharmaceuticals, with which none of the authors have any relationship. Christopher Slay is an employee of Coastwise Consulting. He does not have any pending patents or marketed products related to this work. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLoS ONE policies on sharing data and materials, as detailed online in the guide for authors (http://www.plosone.org/static/policies.action#sharing). Funding: This work was funded by Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Technology Innovation Program (WHOI), North Pond Foundation, Sloan and Wick Simmonds, Northeast Consortium, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies, Coastwise Consulting, the Atlantic Large Whale Disentanglement Network, and Aquatic Animal Health Program, University of Florida. NOAA was centrally involved in the permitting and undertaking of the work. The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 demands that this be so. The paper was drafted by all of the authors with no influence from NOAA as an agency in terms of how it was written. Coastwise Consulting provided logistic support for the 2009 field work. Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies provided support for ballistic technology development. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution funded initial concept development. University of Florida funded drug acquisition. Despite some of the authors being employees of the above sources of funds, the administrators of the funds so granted had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Pfizer Inc. had no financial involvement in the project.

Mapping the Southwest Indian Ridge with Geosat

Abstract: Satellite altimetry continues to have an extraordinary impact on the Earth sciences. It is sure to be considered the most important new observing tool for marine geophysics and geology to emerge in recent times. Spacecraft that have used and are currently using radar altimeters to map sea-surface topography, and thereby marine gravity, include Geos-3, Seasat, Geosat, ERS-1, and Topex/Poseidon. To date, however, only Geosat altimeter data have possessed both the accuracy and density of coverage necessary to clearly resolve tectonic details in the marine gravity field on a global basis.

Correcting ocean colour reflectance for absorbing aerosols

Abstract: Absorbing aerosol artefacts are persistent in Sea‐viewing Wide Field‐of‐View Sensor (SeaWiFS) imagery. Atmospheric aerosols absorb light with a strong spectral bias toward shorter wavelengths. Failure to account for their effects can result in underestimates of satellite‐derived water reflectance and overestimates of satellite‐derived chlorophyll concentrations. In this paper, a method to estimate and remove part of this artefact is presented. The method assumes (1) the total artefact is the difference between the current satellite reflectance and true reflectance; and (2) the spectral shape of the artefact caused by absorbing aerosols can be approximated by λ−n , where λ is wavelength and n = 6. The solution is explained using an in‐water bio‐optical model but is solved separately using the scattering characteristics of the atmosphere. An error analysis with variable amounts and different spectral types of aerosol artefact indicates that the method adjusts for absorbing aerosol with increasing frequency ...