Researchers Explore Undersea Mountain

(Map courtesy MBARI)

Davidson Seamount is located 75 miles southwest of Monterey, Calif., and is one of the largest known seamounts in the United States. An initial survey of the geology and biology of the Davidson Seamount was made by NOAA, MBARI and other partners in 2002. Discoveries during that cruise prompted members of the public to propose that Davidson Seamount be protected as part of Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.  To learn more about the expedition, visit www.oceanexplorer.noaa.gov

Grant Opportunity for Santa Barbara Area Educators

California Congresswoman Lois Capps and staff from Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary announced a new education grant opportunity in January 2006. NOAA’s Bay Watershed Education and Training, or B-WET, program will offer $350,000 for K-12 education efforts that help students and teachers in Santa Barbara and Ventura, Calif., better understand the coastal environment and the connection between land and sea.

B-WET is the first federally supported grant program to focus solely on Santa Barbara Channel watersheds. B-WET programs are also offered in the Chesapeake Bay area, Monterey and San Francisco and the Hawaiian Islands. For more information about the B-WET grant opportunity and deadlines, please contact Seaberry.Nachbar@noaa.gov.

New Marine Conservation Series Report Available

NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuary Program is pleased to announce the release of a new Marine Conservation Series report, Benthic Habitat Mapping in the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary. The report focuses on a 2002 survey of the northern portion of the sanctuary during which researchers used imaging equipment to produce highly detailed maps of the seafloor. Click here for the report.

Hundreds Help Count Whales in Hawai'i

Sanctuary Advisory Council member Bill Friedl watches for whale alongside HIHWNMS staff members Christine Brammer (left) and Breena Martin during the January 2006 Sanctuary Ocean Count. (Photo: Kevin Brammer)

“The Ocean Count is a unique opportunity for the public to learn about Hawai`i’s humpbacks while participating in a monitoring effort.  It’s wonderful to see that so many people respond to our call for volunteers,” said Christine Brammer, Sanctuary Ocean Count coordinator. Final results from the Ocean Count will be available at  hawaiihumpbackwhale.noaa.gov in the fall of 2006.

Spotlight On: Ocean Careers

For centuries, the ocean has drawn people to its domain. From Phoenician sailors to modern-day commercial fishermen to biologists studying tiny limpets in tide pools, people have made a living on or near the sea. [Full story]

Popular Gulf of Mexico Dive Site Takes Hurricane Hit

Bleached coral.

Sanctuary biologists with NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuary Program, which manages the sanctuary, waited anxiously for several weeks for seas to calm so they could investigate the damage. [Full story]

Maritime Center Opens in Lake Huron Community

On a brutal November morning in 1913, the steel-hulled ship Isaac M. Scott, built in 1909, sank in Lake Huron. All 28 passengers on board perished. The ship was one of eleven Great Lakes vessels lost during the great storm of 1913, considered one of the most devastating storms of the 20th century to pound the Great Lakes.

Resting in what has become known as shipwreck alley, the Isaac M. Scott is just one of more than 150 shipwrecks found, with others still to be located, in Lake Huron’s Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

To give visitors to the area a greater sense of time and place, and appreciate the number of shipwrecks in Thunder Bay, the city of Alpena opened its new Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center on Sept 17. [Full story]

New Species of Coral Discovered in Sanctuary

Christmas Tree Coral (Antipathes dendrochristos). Photo: Mark Amend