Download Project Name: The Center for Integrated Marine Technologies (CIMT)

Project Accomplishment Report July 2006
Project Name: The Center for Integrated Marine Technologies (CIMT)
Date Initiated: August 2002 (Current number: NA16OC2936)
Primary Contact:
Dr. Gary Griggs
Director-Institute of Marine Sciences
A317 Earth & Marine Sciences Building
University of California, Santa Cruz
1156 High St.
Santa Cruz, CA 95064
Phone: 831-459-2464
Email: [email protected]
Project Web Site:
http://cimt.ucsc.edu
Brief Project Summary:
The Center for Integrated Marine Technologies’ (CIMT) mission is to create a coastal
ocean monitoring program that links new technologies and data across disciplines of
marine science to address key questions for the management and conservation of
California coastal marine resources. These technologies are being used to investigate the
critical linkages among:

Physical forcing mechanisms,

The availability of critical nutrients,

The distribution, abundance and species composition of phytoplankton and
zooplankton, and

The distribution, abundance and species composition of top-level consumers
including fish, seabirds, marine mammals and sea turtles.
This comprehensive interdisciplinary approach will serve as a model for integrated
coastal ocean observing systems and establish the scientific basis for the effective
monitoring and management of coastal fisheries and protected resources, especially those
of the Monterey Bay region of central California.
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Key Accomplishments:
 Integrated Ocean Observing System, Regional Association Support: CIMT
appreciates the importance of a national IOOS and specifically supports the
regional association efforts of the Central and Northern California Ocean
Observing System (CeNCOOS). Since 2003 CIMT has endeavored to provide
cogent CeNCOOS committee support. At least one CIMT member participated in
each of the five CeNCOOS interim committees, we currently have members on
the governing council and participants within the working group, and we have
split our CIMT coordinator’s time to help accomplish the goals of CeNCOOS.

Fisheries Management: CIMT data sets were identified by the National Marine
Fisheries Service for use in generating krill biomass estimates for development of
krill fishery regulations. CIMT investigators Croll and Marinovic participated in
a workshop to identify feasible means to assess krill abundance. Subsequently,
CIMT investigators Croll, Marinovic, Griggs, and Harvey submitted an advisory
letter to the Pacific Fisheries Management Council (PFMC) in conjunction with
the Pacific Federation of Fishermen’s Association, Oceana, Sierra Club, the
Honorable Leon Panetta, and other non-governmental organizations and
fishermen’s group outlining the rationale and need for a prohibition of fishing on
krill as a key forage species as a key to ecosystem management. In March 2006
the PFMC designated krill as a “prohibited harvest” species and is currently
establishing essential fish habitat for krill.

Fisheries Management: CIMT data in collaboration with the Tagging of Pacific
Pelagics (TOPP) research on male California sea lions diving behavior has
identified foraging hotspots along coastal California that will be used by the
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in spatial analysis of impacts on
commercially important fish species through ecosystem-based fisheries
management.

Fisheries Management: CIMT data, in collaboration with Moss Landing Marine
Labs, on the food habits of California sea lions has been used to model the
impacts of pinnipeds on listed Salmon and rockfish stocks for federal
management agencies. The Pacific Fisheries Management Council and the
National Marine Fisheries Service are both using this information to better inform
management decisions.

Harmful Algal Blooms/NOAA/California Department of Health Services: CIMT
developed “rapid-response” remote sensing products in collaboration with Dr.
Richard Stumpf (NOAA) using remote sensing for identification of potential
harmful algal bloom problems offshore California. This information, as well as
population abundance and toxin analysis information on toxic algal species, is
provided regularly to the California Department of Health Services.

Water Quality: At the request of the Central Coast Long Term Environmental
Assessment Network (CCLEAN) program, CIMT is providing an analysis of the
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impact of the rivers draining into Monterey Bay on coastal water quality
parameters detectable using satellite remote sensing (such as chlorophyll and total
suspended solids) for 2002-2006. The end product will be a time-series analysis
identifying the spatial and temporal conditions when and where river flow and
oceanographic data are correlated. This product will be used to assess the
potential impact of river-borne pollutants such as nitrogen or pathogenic bacteria,
on the coastal ocean.

Non-point Source Pollution: CIMT has identified urea-nitrogen as a potentially
important enhancing factor in the production of domoic acid, produced by the
harmful algae Pseudo-nitzschia. In addition to several scientific presentations and
publications, CIMT is also working with Central Coast Long Term Environmental
Assessment Network (CCLEAN), the California Department of Health Services,
and the NOAA Oil Spill Prevention and Response (OPSR) Santa Cruz office to
assess the role of non-point source pollution, such as urea, in impacting wildlife
via harmful algal events.

Oceanographic Conditions: Working with Yi Chao, of the NASA Jet Propulsion
Lab, CIMT has validated the use of temperature profiles of the water column
collecting during dives by instrumented adult male California sea lions. This
environmental data will be fed into ocean climate models developed by Yi Chao
to predict coastal oceanographic conditions.

Marine Operations/Wind Speed & Direction: CIMT developed a real-time wind
model for marine recreational users available on the web http://cimt.jpl.nasa.gov/ .
Through the CIMT end user process, wind speed and direction were determined
to be important parameters for marine recreationalists. CIMT’s collaborations led
by Jet Propulsion Labs and the Naval Postgraduate School, with additional
collaborations from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss
Landing Marine Labs, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, Central and
Northern California Ocean Observing System, and end user feedback helped to
refine a wind model product that can be used by marine recreationalist or other
users in need of wind speed and direction information with real-time and
prediction capabilities.

Current Mapping and Oil Spill Response: CIMT provides an opportunity to
extend and enhance the product development capabilities of the basic mapping
system, which is under development by the State's Coastal Ocean Currents
Monitoring Program (COCMP). The basic products derived from the high
frequency radar network are maps of surface ocean currents each hour out to
distances ranging from 50 km to 200 km from shore. This observing system
capability has been established for the Monterey Bay area within CIMT and it
will be expanded and perpetuated with support from California's COCMP to
produce continuous maps for the region around central California. CIMT
enhancements are supporting real-time spill trajectory mapping for the upcoming
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NOAA Safe Seas 2006 oil spill exercise taking place August 2006 in the offshore
waters between San Francisco and Monterey Bay.

Information Access: CIMT text descriptions and metadata have been provided or
entered for several data collection efforts occurring within ocean observing;
including COTS, oceanObs (MBNMS/CeNCOOS) www.oceanobs.org, and the
SIMoN/MBNMS InfoShare program www.mbnms-simon.org . CIMT will
continue to work with CeNCOOS on the development of the regional operations
and business plan to fully meet OOS requirements.

Education: CIMT has developed a short video on the ocean observation activities
of CIMT. The film is being used as an education tool to introduce CIMT &
IOOS activities for end users and is on display daily in the entrance exhibit at
Seymour Marine Discovery Center in Santa Cruz, California (November 2005),
which is visited by about 55,000 people annually.
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