On Sept 9, NOAA Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary, SECOORA partner, joined Georgia Southern University and deployed 2 satellite-enabled drifters*. The team also released 50 gallons of fluorescent red dye into the Altamaha River outflow. 

 

The drifters are collecting information on how larger materials, such as dead stalks of marsh grass, may disperse after being transported by ocean currents from the Altamaha River estuary. Drifters trajectory path will be coming soon to the SECOORA website! 

In 2013, as part of NOAA's Ocean Acidification (OA) Program, SECOORA received funds to provide support to the GRNMS buoy. The buoy is maintained by the University of Georgia and is part of international efforts to quantify the effects of OA on the world's ocean. To date, the GRNMS buoy has been recording high resolution monitoring data for seven years. The sensors on the buoy record pCO2, pH, dissolved oxygen, salinity and water temperature. An overall upward trend has been detected for both seawater and atmospheric pCO2. Seawater pCO2 is increasing on average 2.4% per year and atmospheric pCO2 is increasing on average 0.789% per year. The near real time data from the buoy is available on SECOORA's data portal.

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Zdenka Willis, Director of U.S. IOOS® Program Office, was interviewed for the July/August issue for ECO Magazine.

ECO provides comprehensive coverage and analysis of issues affecting the coastal and offshore environment field.

Zdenka answered questions regarding Data Management and Communication, integrated storm planning scenarios, IOOS's future plans and more!