For more than 10 years, NOAA has overseen a $8.6 million effort to restore habitat along the West Branch of the DuPage River in DuPage County, Ill. Creek and river sediments in the area were polluted with radioactive wastes originating from the Kerr McGee/West Branch DuPage River Superfund Site.

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Wandering albatrosses have altered their foraging due to changes in wind fields in the southern hemisphere during the last decades. Since winds have increased in intensity and moved to the south, the flight speed of albatrosses increased and they spend less time foraging. As a consequence, breeding success has improved and birds have gained 1 kilogram....

Of all the habitable parts of our planet, one ecosystem still remains largely unexplored and unknown to science: The igneous ocean crust. This rocky realm of hard volcanic lava exists beneath ocean sediments that lie at the bottom of much of the world's oceans. While scientists have estimated that microbes living in deep ocean sediments may represent as much as one-third of Earth's total biomass, the habitable portion of the rocky ocean crust may be 10 times as great....

Scientists have revealed details of the world's most extreme deep-sea volcanic vents, five kilometers down in a rift in the Caribbean seafloor. The undersea hot springs, which lie 0.8 kilometers deeper than any seen before, may be hotter than 450 °C and are shooting a jet of mineral-laden water more than a kilometer into the ocean above....

When scientists reported that bacterial blooms had consumed almost all the deepwater methane plumes after the 2010 Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon oil spill, some were skeptical....

Scientists work to assist fishermen in ways to avoid accidentally hauling in butterfish, a species protected by fishing limits. The researchers develop models to predict where the fish will be....

Climate scientists have now shown for the first time that the strength of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation at 26.5 °N can be skillfully predicted for up to four years....

NOAA's Harmful Algal Bloom Operational Forecast System in the Gulf of Mexico identifies whether or not a bloom of algae is likely to contain a toxic species, where it is, how big it is, where it's headed, and if it could become more severe in the near future. Like a weather forecast, this system provides officials advance warning to test and close beaches and shellfish beds more precisely and for a shorter period of time.

This system relies on satellite imagery, field observations, models, public health reports, and buoy data to provide information on bloom events. Forecasters create a public HAB conditions report using this data and information to provide the likelihood of respiratory irritation impacts to people in the area over the next three to four days.

In addition to the conditions report, NOAA issues a HAB Bulletin for federal, state, and local coastal resource managers. The bulletin includes a summary of present bloom conditions and boundaries based on water samples and satellite imagery. It forecasts whether or not conditions are favorable for bloom formation, where the bloom may go, and whether algae concentrations are likely to intensify in the near future.

Expert oceanographers at NOAA analyse available data and models in order to create accurate bulletins. To ensure the highest degree of accuracy, all operational HAB forecasts undergo secondary review prior to dissemination.

The Harmful Algal Bloom Operational Forecast System depends on the dedication, energy, and feedback from individuals at partner agencies and other organizations working on this issue. Blooms of harmful algae are not unique to the Gulf of Mexico, so NOAA continues to work with local agencies in Maine, Massachusetts, Ohio, Washington, Oregon, California and elsewhere in the U.S. to make new forecasts operational over the next five years.

For more information:
NOAA Harmful Algal Bloom Operational Forecast System

Explore: Harmful Algal Blooms

Diving Deeper podcast (10.7.09) - Harmful Algal Blooms

Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services

National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science

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Researchers have discovered a new culprit likely involved in Earth's greatest extinction event: an influx of mercury into the ecosystem....

Warming in the North Atlantic over the last 32 years has significantly reduced winter sea ice cover in harp seal breeding grounds, resulting in sharply higher death rates among seal pups in recent years, according to a new study....