Project Information

Title: Continuation and Expansion of Ocean Acidification Monitoring in the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Area 23220202

Project Year and Number: 2023: 23220202

Other Fiscal Years and Numbers for this Project: 2022: 22220202

Principal Investigator (PI): Claudine Hauri (University of Alaska Fairbanks)

Managing Agency: NOAA

Assisting Personnel: None

Project Website: https://gulfwatchalaska.org/monitoring/environmental-drivers/ocean_acidification/

Research Location: Spill Area

Restoration Category: Monitoring

Injured Resources Addressed: Not Specified

Abstract:

Ocean acidification and warming are putting an additional strain on a marine ecosystem that is slowly recovering from the 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. The high latitude Gulf of Alaska ecosystem is especially vulnerable to ocean acidification and requires high-resolution in-situ observations to characterize the natural inorganic carbon variability, and monitor the progression of ocean acidification and climate change. High-resolution ocean acidification monitoring was conducted along the historic Seward Line between 2008 and 2017. Unfortunately, this effort was reduced to just 4-5 stations per cruise in 2018, terminating a time series that was starting to help us understand natural variability, local drivers, and define ocean acidification hotspots and potential impacts on the ecosystem. Here, we propose to reinstitute high-resolution ocean acidification monitoring along the Seward Line and in Prince William Sound in May, July, and September, and expand monitoring along an additional transect off Kodiak. This project will leverage already funded projects, such as the Northern Gulf of Alaska Long Term Ecological Research (NGA-LTER) program and the Gulf of Alaska Ecosystem Observatory, funded through a consortium of agencies and institutions such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), EVOSTCs Gulf Watch Program, Alaska Ocean Observing System (AOOS), North Pacific Research Board (NPRB), and The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust. In addition to extending the temporal and geographic coverage of a critical data set, the proposed sampling plan includes the new Kodiak Line, which passes by highly productive areas near current and planned future mariculture grounds suggested to be an ocean acidification hotspot. Thus, understanding the current chemical conditions and progression of ocean acidification is of high socio-economic importance to the region. Overall, the proposed project will help to distinguish the effects of the oil spill from the effects of ocean acidification on the ecosystem and manage sensitive or injured species and resources.

This project was approved for the FY22 - FY26 funding cycle.


Proposal: View (2,835 KB)

Reports:
FY23 Annual Report: View (3,296 KB)

Publications from this Project: None Available

Resolutions: