Project Information

Title: LTM Program: Long-term monitoring of oceanographic conditions in Cook Inlet/Kachemak Bay 17120114-J

Project Year and Number: 2017: 17120114-J

Other Fiscal Years and Numbers for this Project: 2021: 21120114-J, 2020: 20120114-J, 2019: 19120114-J, 2018: 18120114-J, 2016: 16120114-G, 2015: 15120114-G, 2013: 13120114-G, 2012: 12120114-G

Principal Investigator (PI): Angela Doroff (Kachemak Bay Research Reserve), Kris Holderied (NOAA)

Managing Agency: NOAA

Assisting Personnel: None

Project Website: https://gulfwatchalaska.org/monitoring/environmental-drivers/oceanographic-conditions-in-lower-cook-inlet-and-kachemak-bay/

Research Location: Kachemak Bay, Cook Inlet

Restoration Category: Monitoring

Injured Resources Addressed: Not Specified

Abstract:

The Cook Inlet oceanographic monitoring project contributes to the Environmental Drivers component of the Gulf Watch Alaska (GWA) program proposal. We propose to sustain time series from shipboard and shore-based oceanographic and plankton monitoring conducted during FY12-16 in lower Cook Inlet and Kachemak Bay. We propose to adapt our sampling design based on lessons learned and monitoring results in the first five years, including the anomalously warm waters and changing species distributions and seabird and marine mammal mortalities observed in 2014-2015. We will increase sampling frequency on the eastern side of our study area to improve temporal resolution of water mass and nutrient exchange between Kachemak Bay, lower Cook Inlet and Gulf of Alaska shelf waters, with a goal to better characterize how changing marine conditions affect lower trophic conditions in the hot spots for primary production, fish, seabirds and marine mammals near the Cook Inlet entrance and in outer Kachemak Bay. These observations provide information on the seasonal, inter-annual and spatial variability in marine conditions that impact nearshore and pelagic species injured by the Exxon Valdez oil spill, as well as their prey and predators. We coordinate efforts with other Environmental Drivers component researchers to understand climatic changes across the entire spill-affected region and provide oceanographic data to researchers from GWA nearshore (Konar/Iken) and pelagic seabird and marine mammal (Kuletz/Kaler) monitoring projects as well as to commercial and sport fishery managers at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Our goal is to characterize changing oceanographic conditions, understand how those changes influence the ecosystem and spill-injured species, and provide data and science products to trustee agencies to help in the management, sustained recovery and restoration of injured resources.


Proposal: View (923 KB)

Reports:
Annual Report FY17: View (3,127 KB)
Final Report: See Project 21120114-J

Publications from this Project: None Available