WEBVTT

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<v ->Good evening, everyone.</v>

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We're pleased to have you join us

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for our annual Seaside Chat Speaker Series

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about ocean topics associated with Flower Garden Banks

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National Marine Sanctuary, and the Gulf of Mexico.

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We're also part of the National Marine Sanctuaries

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webinar series and the NOAA Science Seminar Series.

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During the presentation,

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all attendees will be in listen-only mode.

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You're welcome to type questions for the presenter

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into the question box at the bottom of the control panel

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on the right-hand side of your screen.

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You may also let us know about any technical issues

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you are having.

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We will be monitoring incoming questions

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and technical issues,

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and will respond to them as soon as we can.

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In addition, we encourage you to close all other programs

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you may have open on your computer,

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or any non-webinar tabs on your internet browser.

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This will ensure the best viewing quality for the webinar.

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We are recording this session,

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and will post a recording to

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the National Marine Sanctuaries

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and Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary websites.

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We will notify registered participants via email

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when these recordings are available,

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and eventually we will get them all captioned

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in both English and Spanish.

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And for those of you who are interested,

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we have a document of links to additional resources

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on today's topic,

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and it's available in the Handout

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pane of your control panel.

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Simply click on the item to download it.

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Hello again, my name is Kelly Drinnen,

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and I'm the Acting Education Coordinator

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for Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary.

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I'll be facilitating today's webinar

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from Dickinson, Texas.

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And also with me today is Taylor Galaviz,

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our Constituent Engagement Specialist,

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who will be helping me with the back-end administration

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of this webinar.

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In 1972, the United States ushered in a new era

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of ocean conservation

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by creating the National Marine Sanctuary System.

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Since then, we've grown into a nationwide network

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of 15 National Marine Sanctuaries,

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two Marine National Monuments,

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and at this point, six sites awaiting designation.

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In all, the areas already designated

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concern more than 620,000 square miles

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of spectacular ocean and Great Lakes waters,

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and that's an area nearly the size of Alaska.

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These marine protected areas

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are kind of like national parks,

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but they're all underwater.

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The National Marine Sanctuaries Act

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gives NOAA the authority to designate

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special areas of the marine environment

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as National Marine Sanctuaries.

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It also mandates that the Office

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of National Marine Sanctuaries conduct research,

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monitoring, resource protection, education, outreach,

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and management of America's underwater treasures

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to preserve them for future generations.

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And in addition to being places for recreation and research,

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National Marine Sanctuaries are also living classrooms,

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places where people can see, touch, and learn

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about the nation's Great Lakes and ocean treasures.

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This webinar series is just one part

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of that national education and outreach effort.

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The Seaside Chats series specifically

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is hosted by Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary,

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the only National Marine Sanctuary in the Gulf of Mexico.

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This sanctuary consists of 17 banks

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or small underwater mountains

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that are home to some of the healthiest

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coral reefs in the world,

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amazing algae and sponge communities,

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and deep reef habitats that feature

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an abundance of black corals and gorgonians.

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We invite you to learn about us

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by visiting the sanctuary website

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at flowergarden.noaa.gov.

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Today's presentation focuses on climate monitoring

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in both Flower Garden Banks

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and Florida Keys national marine sanctuaries.

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In 2023, record high ocean temperatures

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led to a significant amount of coral bleaching

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in both of these sanctuaries.

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But what does this mean for the future of our coral reefs?

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Today, we'll learn from Nicole Besemer

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how the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program

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tracks reef health and monitors specifically for changes

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brought on by climate change.

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Nicole Besemer is a marine biologist

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whose work focuses primarily on South Florida

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and Caribbean ecosystem management and conservation.

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She serves as the Coral Program Lab Manager

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and National Coral Reef Monitoring Program,

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or NCRMP, Caribbean Climate Operations Coordinator

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with NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic

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and Meteorological Laboratory Coral Program.

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Lots of acronyms there.

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Nicole's current work focuses on the implementation

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of the climate monitoring component of NCRMP,

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including the planning and operation

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of associated field work and research trips,

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as well as data analysis related to how ocean acidification

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and global warming are affecting coral reef communities

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in the Atlantic and the Caribbean.

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Nicole holds a Master of Professional Science

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in Tropical Marine Ecosystem Management

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from the University of Miami Rosensteil School of Marine

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and Atmospheric Science,

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and a Bachelor of Science in Marine Science and Biology

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from East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania.

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Welcome, Nicole.

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<v Nicole>Thank you so much for having me.</v>

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<v ->And I've just handed over screen control for you.</v>

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<v Nicole>All right.</v>

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I accept it.

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<v ->And feel free to turn on your camera as well.</v>

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Oh, there you are.

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<v ->There you are.</v>

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<v ->All good?</v>

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Can we see me?

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<v ->Yes, I can.</v>

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And we can hear you just fine.

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Take it away.

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<v ->Perfect.</v>

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Thank you so much, Kelly, for that introduction.

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As Kelly just said, my name is Nicole Besemer.

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I'm an oceanographer for AOML's Coral Program.

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And just to add to what Kelly said a little bit about me,

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I found my love for the ocean as a little kid

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going fishing with my dad

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off the coast of New York and New Jersey.

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It was these experiences growing up

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that led me to just,

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I really needed a career in studying the ocean

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and doing something I was super happy and passionate about

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and could give back to.

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So I got my undergraduate degree

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at a small little Pennsylvania State School

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at East Stroudsburg University.

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It was then I decided that if I wanted to study the ocean,

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I should probably be near one.

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So I moved to Miami and I got my master's degree

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in Tropical Marine Ecosystem Management

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from the University of Miami.

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These degrees opened the doors for amazing opportunities.

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I held multiple technician positions

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for the NOAA Fisheries studying near shore habitats.

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I was able to work for the National Park Service

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studying sea turtles.

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And what I found is I really missed

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was just bringing that diving component

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and being in the water back into my life.

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And so I was very fortunate to be able to get a position

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as an oceanographer

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with NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic

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Meteorological Laboratory.

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And so that is why today I am talking to you

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about climate monitoring and Flower Garden Banks

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and the Florida Keys.

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And so I wanted to quickly start off

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with just a little bit of background

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of actually what is a coral?

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And most people think that they are just rocks

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or plants on the bottom of the ocean,

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but they are actually animals and they move and they feed

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and they reproduce just like others do.

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And so when you kind of zoom in on a coral

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like that picture on the left,

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you can see the individual polyps

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and this cartoon on the right is actually showing

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sort of how their body structure works.

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They are closest related to jellyfish,

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which is why they look very similar with those tentacles.

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And the cool thing about corals

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is that they actually have a photosynthetic algae

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that lives within their tissues.

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So it gives them their color

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and provides energy for the coral just like plants.

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And so why do we care about corals?

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Well, they are a biodiversity hotspot.

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They provide coastal protection from hurricanes and storms

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for our infrastructure on coastlines.

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They also contribute billions of dollars to the US economy.

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So these are really, really important ecosystems

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that contribute more than I think most people realize.

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It's also well known that they are in extreme decline.

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So one of the aspects that we use

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to monitor climate change is temperature.

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As temperature is rising in our atmosphere,

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so is the temperature in our oceans.

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And this is what causes coral bleaching.

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And I'll get into this a little bit more later,

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but coral bleaching is when it is too warm

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for this coral to survive

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and it actually loses that relationship

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with the symbiotic algae.

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And that's where it's leave that white exposed skeleton.

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And now some corals can return from this,

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but it is also one of the leading drivers

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of mass mortality in coral reef ecosystems.

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Another important aspect of climate impacts

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is ocean acidification.

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And so CO2 in our atmosphere is on the rise

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and it is also on the rise in the ocean.

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And when CO2 rises, a metric called pH

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or the acidity of the ocean is where it starts to decline.

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And this is where the concept

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and the term ocean acidification comes into play.

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And so when the pH of the seawater declines,

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this is what makes it really hard

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for calcifiers in our ocean, such as coral,

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crabs, lobsters, shellfish,

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and especially coral to exist and persevere.

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And so when they are growing,

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the pH can reduce their shell

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and break down the existing skeleton.

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And when this happens

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and we combine the ocean acidification

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and the temperature impacts,

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this leads to sort of a way

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that it is affecting the ecological impacts of the reef.

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And so these reefs contribute so much to us

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and when they are suffering and declining,

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it has a huge impact on the species that live there

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and need them to live.

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And so one of the ways we really see how reefs are growing

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and persisting and healthy is if they're growing

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or if they are eroding and breaking down.

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And so it's these sort of important three indicators

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that NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program

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wanted to create a program to look at coral reef health

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in this robust picture

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that takes in all the components of a coral reef

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and is able to make it comparable across jurisdictions

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and be able to assess how our U.S. coral reefs are doing.

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And so they established

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this integrated and focused monitoring plan

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called the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program or NCRMP

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because the government loves their acronyms.

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And it was established in 2013

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with four previously independent monitoring programs,

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benthic, fish, climate monitoring and socioeconomic.

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And this is how we are now assessing

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the health and status of our coral reefs.

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Our group specifically is in charge of climate monitoring

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in the Caribbean and Atlantic.

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So we get to travel to all of these amazing locations

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on this map, Florida Keys, the U.S. Virgin Islands,

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Puerto Rico, Dry Tortugas.

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Within Florida, we go down through the Florida Keys

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and up through Broward County.

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I'm very fortunate to be able to get to travel

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to all of these places.

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When we set up this monitoring program,

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we took these three indicators that I mentioned before,

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thermal stress, ocean acidification and ecological impacts,

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and we wanted to create a sort of spatio-temporal way

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to look at these.

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00:11:22.500 --> 00:11:24.455
So we have some of our methods

269
00:11:24.455 --> 00:11:27.200
that sort of look at a wider scale, broader scale,

270
00:11:27.200 --> 00:11:29.640
and then kind of dial in on some areas

271
00:11:29.640 --> 00:11:32.340
to try to get more information there

272
00:11:32.340 --> 00:11:35.940
and to use more instruments and surveys

273
00:11:35.940 --> 00:11:38.852
to be able to have just really a widespread concept

274
00:11:38.852 --> 00:11:40.740
of how these reefs are doing.

275
00:11:40.740 --> 00:11:43.590
And all of this information is then sort of taken back

276
00:11:43.590 --> 00:11:45.140
and put into these status reports

277
00:11:45.140 --> 00:11:47.460
and able to give sort of an assessment

278
00:11:47.460 --> 00:11:49.320
of how these reefs are doing.

279
00:11:49.320 --> 00:11:51.915
And so one of the ways to kind of get

280
00:11:51.915 --> 00:11:54.330
into these monitoring methods is looking

281
00:11:54.330 --> 00:11:57.570
at our ocean acidification and carbonate chemistry.

282
00:11:57.570 --> 00:12:00.318
And so in the carbonate chemistry system,

283
00:12:00.318 --> 00:12:03.300
there are five parameters that we look to measure.

284
00:12:03.300 --> 00:12:05.813
And so we can kind of get these information

285
00:12:05.813 --> 00:12:08.518
from water samples that are collected by hand

286
00:12:08.518 --> 00:12:11.845
at the surface or by divers at the bottom.

287
00:12:11.845 --> 00:12:14.366
We also have buoys that can collect these samples

288
00:12:14.366 --> 00:12:16.776
and monitor these OA parameters for us.

289
00:12:16.776 --> 00:12:18.990
And we take them back to the lab and analyze them

290
00:12:18.990 --> 00:12:21.237
and we're able to get these five parameters.

291
00:12:21.237 --> 00:12:23.733
And this is what gives us sort of the whole picture

292
00:12:23.733 --> 00:12:27.030
of how the water chemistry and ocean chemistry is doing.

293
00:12:27.030 --> 00:12:30.017
And so some of the work that we have been able to do

294
00:12:30.017 --> 00:12:33.542
with this data is we have a long-term monitoring project

295
00:12:33.542 --> 00:12:35.720
that has been going on since 2011.

296
00:12:35.720 --> 00:12:38.310
We have these permanent sites in the Florida Keys

297
00:12:38.310 --> 00:12:41.070
where water samples are collected every two months.

298
00:12:41.070 --> 00:12:43.730
And we were able to take this and create one

299
00:12:43.730 --> 00:12:46.692
of the largest synthesis of carbonate chemistry

300
00:12:46.692 --> 00:12:48.090
in the Florida Keys.

301
00:12:48.090 --> 00:12:51.540
And so what we found is that our actually offshore reefs

302
00:12:51.540 --> 00:12:54.870
are more susceptible to ocean acidification conditions.

303
00:12:54.870 --> 00:12:58.050
And areas in near shore reefs or smaller patch reefs

304
00:12:58.050 --> 00:13:01.022
closer to land actually have temporary refuge

305
00:13:01.022 --> 00:13:04.140
from ocean acidification due to the primary production

306
00:13:04.140 --> 00:13:05.433
of the local areas.

307
00:13:06.450 --> 00:13:09.468
To kind of dig into our temperature measurement,

308
00:13:09.468 --> 00:13:11.760
we use an instrument on the right here

309
00:13:11.760 --> 00:13:15.098
called a subsurface temperature recorder or an STR.

310
00:13:15.098 --> 00:13:17.347
These instruments are really high precision

311
00:13:17.347 --> 00:13:18.900
for climate quality work.

312
00:13:18.900 --> 00:13:21.078
And they're also able to be deployed

313
00:13:21.078 --> 00:13:22.830
on the seafloor for three years.

314
00:13:22.830 --> 00:13:25.265
So this little graphic kind of shows our site

315
00:13:25.265 --> 00:13:26.934
at the Flower Garden Banks.

316
00:13:26.934 --> 00:13:28.855
We set it up on a depth transect.

317
00:13:28.855 --> 00:13:31.513
So the top of the reef within the Flower Gardens

318
00:13:31.513 --> 00:13:34.350
is at 20 meters, all the way down to 35 meters.

319
00:13:34.350 --> 00:13:37.633
And so while most sea surface temperature data

320
00:13:37.633 --> 00:13:39.165
is actually satellite data

321
00:13:39.165 --> 00:13:41.220
that we can collect from the surface,

322
00:13:41.220 --> 00:13:43.775
these instruments allow us to actually see

323
00:13:43.775 --> 00:13:46.383
what the reef is experiencing in real time.

324
00:13:47.800 --> 00:13:51.405
We recently went, our latest trip to the Flower Garden Banks

325
00:13:51.405 --> 00:13:54.027
National Marine Sanctuary was back in 2022.

326
00:13:54.027 --> 00:13:56.555
And we were able to collect our latest round

327
00:13:56.555 --> 00:13:58.050
of temperature recorders.

328
00:13:58.050 --> 00:14:00.302
And so this is kind of a little example

329
00:14:00.302 --> 00:14:02.055
of the data that we get to see.

330
00:14:02.055 --> 00:14:04.590
You can see really strong seasonal trends

331
00:14:04.590 --> 00:14:06.360
between summer and winter.

332
00:14:06.360 --> 00:14:08.240
And it's also really interesting to see

333
00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:10.162
sort of the anomalies of storms

334
00:14:10.162 --> 00:14:11.733
that happened during the summer

335
00:14:11.733 --> 00:14:13.411
and how that really changes

336
00:14:13.411 --> 00:14:15.753
and drives temperatures in this area.

337
00:14:18.720 --> 00:14:20.990
Next one, we're kind of starting to look

338
00:14:20.990 --> 00:14:24.333
into our reef growth and reef erosion metrics.

339
00:14:24.333 --> 00:14:26.280
We use two instruments called

340
00:14:26.280 --> 00:14:28.050
a calcification accretion unit,

341
00:14:28.050 --> 00:14:31.080
which is those two PVC plates you kind of see there.

342
00:14:31.080 --> 00:14:33.905
And then a bioerosion monitoring unit or a BMU,

343
00:14:33.905 --> 00:14:36.473
which is that little white piece of coral block.

344
00:14:36.473 --> 00:14:38.823
And so these are installed on the reef

345
00:14:38.823 --> 00:14:40.649
and they're actually deployed

346
00:14:40.649 --> 00:14:42.390
and left there for three years.

347
00:14:42.390 --> 00:14:45.710
And so after three years, they are able to be collected

348
00:14:45.710 --> 00:14:48.145
and we can actually look inside of them

349
00:14:48.145 --> 00:14:51.240
to see how they're changing.

350
00:14:51.240 --> 00:14:54.300
And so they represent a little piece of the actual reef

351
00:14:54.300 --> 00:14:57.810
and you can see what's grown on them, what's eroded them.

352
00:14:57.810 --> 00:14:59.728
So we take these samples back

353
00:14:59.728 --> 00:15:01.837
and we actually have a CT scanner

354
00:15:01.837 --> 00:15:03.840
just like you would find in a hospital.

355
00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:06.055
And we're able to scan these instruments

356
00:15:06.055 --> 00:15:08.770
and quantify erosion rates and accretion rates

357
00:15:08.770 --> 00:15:10.443
for these local reefs.

358
00:15:11.710 --> 00:15:15.662
Another way that we are able to kind of assess reef health

359
00:15:15.662 --> 00:15:18.600
is actually through carbonate budget surveys.

360
00:15:18.600 --> 00:15:21.747
And so this survey is a type of census based survey

361
00:15:21.747 --> 00:15:23.918
and it determines the abundance

362
00:15:23.918 --> 00:15:26.760
of important organisms to reef building.

363
00:15:26.760 --> 00:15:29.250
So this is reef building, reef eroding.

364
00:15:29.250 --> 00:15:31.470
And to kind of dig into that a little bit,

365
00:15:31.470 --> 00:15:35.490
our reef calcifiers are going to be coral on the left here

366
00:15:35.490 --> 00:15:38.762
and our CCA or crustose coralline algae.

367
00:15:38.762 --> 00:15:42.060
These are the organisms that are actually growing the reef.

368
00:15:42.060 --> 00:15:44.430
And then we have bioeroders.

369
00:15:44.430 --> 00:15:47.920
So this is going to be parrotfish, bioeroding sponges.

370
00:15:47.920 --> 00:15:50.040
This is actually an endolithic algae

371
00:15:50.040 --> 00:15:54.090
that lives below the skeleton of the coral and urchins.

372
00:15:54.090 --> 00:15:57.090
And so we can take all the counts of these creatures

373
00:15:57.090 --> 00:15:59.130
on a reef at a certain time.

374
00:15:59.130 --> 00:16:02.010
And we fit those to their known rates

375
00:16:02.010 --> 00:16:04.380
of either growth or erosion.

376
00:16:04.380 --> 00:16:07.140
And what we get is actually a quantification

377
00:16:07.140 --> 00:16:09.660
of whether these reefs are actually growing

378
00:16:09.660 --> 00:16:12.017
or if they are essentially eroding away

379
00:16:12.017 --> 00:16:14.430
and sort of disappearing before our eyes.

380
00:16:14.430 --> 00:16:17.490
And so this is a study that we did a few years ago.

381
00:16:17.490 --> 00:16:20.880
And if you kind of look to notice here

382
00:16:20.880 --> 00:16:23.332
is we were able to take all of our sites

383
00:16:23.332 --> 00:16:25.620
that all of our NCRMP teams work on.

384
00:16:25.620 --> 00:16:28.650
So collect fish data, collect coral and benthic data.

385
00:16:28.650 --> 00:16:32.070
And we were able to fit this carbonate budget model

386
00:16:32.070 --> 00:16:33.840
throughout the Florida Keys.

387
00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:37.290
And what we found is that actually all those red dots

388
00:16:37.290 --> 00:16:39.330
are reefs that are in net loss.

389
00:16:39.330 --> 00:16:41.880
So they are losing their reef structure.

390
00:16:41.880 --> 00:16:44.940
And we found that 70% of our reefs in Florida

391
00:16:44.940 --> 00:16:47.460
are actually in a net erosional state.

392
00:16:47.460 --> 00:16:49.800
So this was very alarming for us.

393
00:16:49.800 --> 00:16:52.800
And a really important metric to know

394
00:16:52.800 --> 00:16:56.883
and to be able to disseminate that information to managers.

395
00:16:58.680 --> 00:17:02.340
Lastly, to kind of collect sort of a more holistic picture

396
00:17:02.340 --> 00:17:04.050
of how reefs are looking,

397
00:17:04.050 --> 00:17:06.420
we collect landscape photo mosaics.

398
00:17:06.420 --> 00:17:09.355
And so this is our principal investigator of our lab,

399
00:17:09.355 --> 00:17:12.678
Dr. Ian Enochs, shortly after the first signs

400
00:17:12.678 --> 00:17:15.180
of this coral bleaching event happened.

401
00:17:15.180 --> 00:17:17.685
And so we take this,

402
00:17:17.685 --> 00:17:20.370
you'll kind of see this little coral rig that he,

403
00:17:20.370 --> 00:17:23.400
or the camera rig, excuse me, that he's holding here.

404
00:17:23.400 --> 00:17:25.901
We swim over a 10 by 10 meter plot,

405
00:17:25.901 --> 00:17:28.681
and we're actually able to take those pictures

406
00:17:28.681 --> 00:17:31.882
and build a 3D structure of the coral reef.

407
00:17:31.882 --> 00:17:34.690
And this is actually an example from Flower Gardens.

408
00:17:34.690 --> 00:17:36.403
And I think it's so beautiful.

409
00:17:36.403 --> 00:17:38.940
It shows how many corals are actually there.

410
00:17:38.940 --> 00:17:41.340
And so while this is in sort of its 2D format,

411
00:17:41.340 --> 00:17:43.807
we can actually look at these corals in its 3D format

412
00:17:43.807 --> 00:17:45.360
and be able to look through

413
00:17:45.360 --> 00:17:47.300
and see how much structure there is.

414
00:17:47.300 --> 00:17:49.240
And I mean, when you even take a little bit more

415
00:17:49.240 --> 00:17:51.560
of a closer look, this is a much more zoomed in picture

416
00:17:51.560 --> 00:17:54.060
of sort of what the reef looks like out at Flower Gardens.

417
00:17:54.060 --> 00:17:56.457
This is out at East Flower Gardens Bank.

418
00:17:56.457 --> 00:17:59.052
You can just see how many corals are there

419
00:17:59.052 --> 00:18:00.966
in just a small little area.

420
00:18:02.340 --> 00:18:05.820
Also down at Cheeca Rocks, we have a MAPCO2 buoy.

421
00:18:05.820 --> 00:18:09.780
And so this stands for a Moored Autonomous PCO2 buoy.

422
00:18:09.780 --> 00:18:13.418
And what this is, it was installed back in 2011.

423
00:18:13.418 --> 00:18:16.140
And it has instruments that float below it

424
00:18:16.140 --> 00:18:19.830
that actually monitor temperature, carbon dioxide, pH.

425
00:18:19.830 --> 00:18:23.190
And it has a satellite where it can send that information

426
00:18:23.190 --> 00:18:24.900
in almost real time.

427
00:18:24.900 --> 00:18:27.570
So I can be able to go and access

428
00:18:27.570 --> 00:18:30.720
and see what the ocean conditions were like

429
00:18:30.720 --> 00:18:32.820
down at Cheeca Rocks yesterday.

430
00:18:32.820 --> 00:18:36.933
And this became super important this past summer.

431
00:18:37.890 --> 00:18:42.890
We started to get sort of an inkling

432
00:18:43.470 --> 00:18:45.900
that it was going to be a warmer summer.

433
00:18:45.900 --> 00:18:49.050
And this buoy we were able to use to really monitor

434
00:18:49.050 --> 00:18:52.112
what these temperatures were experiencing.

435
00:18:52.112 --> 00:18:55.430
And so you can kind of see in that sort of light blue line

436
00:18:55.430 --> 00:18:58.830
is that most of the summer, specifically in July

437
00:18:58.830 --> 00:19:02.670
and through August was spent above the bleaching threshold.

438
00:19:02.670 --> 00:19:05.310
And so Cheeca Rocks is a really special reef.

439
00:19:05.310 --> 00:19:07.895
It is sort of a very unique,

440
00:19:07.895 --> 00:19:10.510
almost known to be climate resilient, reef.

441
00:19:10.510 --> 00:19:12.677
It's only a mile and a half offshore

442
00:19:12.677 --> 00:19:14.610
off the coast of Islamorada.

443
00:19:14.610 --> 00:19:18.210
And it is home to so many beautiful fish

444
00:19:18.210 --> 00:19:21.810
and mounding corals and soft corals.

445
00:19:21.810 --> 00:19:23.940
And it's just really full of life.

446
00:19:23.940 --> 00:19:26.390
And so this is sort of what it looked like

447
00:19:26.390 --> 00:19:28.300
in the early in the summer.

448
00:19:28.300 --> 00:19:30.470
We had some, once again, foresight

449
00:19:30.470 --> 00:19:32.460
that there was going to be a hot summer.

450
00:19:32.460 --> 00:19:34.745
And so while we normally only collect

451
00:19:34.745 --> 00:19:36.997
some of this information once a year,

452
00:19:36.997 --> 00:19:40.860
we decided to go in June and kind of get our before sample

453
00:19:40.860 --> 00:19:43.440
to see what the reef looks like before that.

454
00:19:43.440 --> 00:19:46.360
And so by the time that we were able to come back

455
00:19:46.360 --> 00:19:48.630
on July 24th, this is what it looked like.

456
00:19:48.630 --> 00:19:52.350
All of that symbiotic algae that I was explaining before

457
00:19:52.350 --> 00:19:54.243
had been lost from the coral.

458
00:19:55.140 --> 00:19:59.310
Almost every single coral was 100% bleached.

459
00:19:59.310 --> 00:20:02.918
The sea fans were essentially like cooking and roasting.

460
00:20:02.918 --> 00:20:04.920
There's obviously still a lot of fish,

461
00:20:04.920 --> 00:20:06.990
but it was just so, so devastating

462
00:20:06.990 --> 00:20:09.588
to see this reef in this state.

463
00:20:09.588 --> 00:20:12.300
I have not been going there for as many years

464
00:20:12.300 --> 00:20:14.357
as some of my other colleagues,

465
00:20:14.357 --> 00:20:16.828
but I can confidently say that the people

466
00:20:16.828 --> 00:20:19.182
that have for the last few bleaching events

467
00:20:19.182 --> 00:20:21.420
have never seen Cheeca Rocks like this.

468
00:20:21.420 --> 00:20:23.250
So just as a little reminder,

469
00:20:23.250 --> 00:20:25.678
the reason that we see that white starkness

470
00:20:25.678 --> 00:20:27.905
is actually because that is the skeleton.

471
00:20:27.905 --> 00:20:30.990
The healthy algae has left the coral skeleton,

472
00:20:30.990 --> 00:20:35.100
the polyp of the sort of living tissue of that coral.

473
00:20:35.100 --> 00:20:37.212
It is now left with the skeleton.

474
00:20:37.212 --> 00:20:39.630
And so corals can come back from this.

475
00:20:39.630 --> 00:20:42.560
It does not mean it is an instant death sentence.

476
00:20:42.560 --> 00:20:46.230
It all kind of depends how much time they spend

477
00:20:46.230 --> 00:20:48.434
at that coral bleaching threshold.

478
00:20:48.434 --> 00:20:51.370
And so there have been many more of these events before

479
00:20:51.370 --> 00:20:52.895
so that we know that we can,

480
00:20:52.895 --> 00:20:55.230
that corals can survive and they can persevere.

481
00:20:55.230 --> 00:20:57.742
But this is the worst that anyone has seen

482
00:20:57.742 --> 00:21:00.780
an experience like this, this reef in a very long time.

483
00:21:00.780 --> 00:21:04.000
And so we used our mosaic methods to really track this.

484
00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:06.420
And so, as I mentioned, we went June 30th,

485
00:21:06.420 --> 00:21:08.555
that's where you can see on the left,

486
00:21:08.555 --> 00:21:11.302
there's still a lot of color, a lot of health to the reef.

487
00:21:11.302 --> 00:21:12.720
And by July 24th,

488
00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:16.680
almost every single coral was completely bleached.

489
00:21:16.680 --> 00:21:19.680
And so this technology gives us a really great way

490
00:21:19.680 --> 00:21:21.840
to just kind of see a zoomed in picture

491
00:21:21.840 --> 00:21:23.790
of what's happening here.

492
00:21:23.790 --> 00:21:26.625
And it's just, it was so awful to see

493
00:21:26.625 --> 00:21:30.050
how many hard coral species that were like bleached or pale

494
00:21:30.050 --> 00:21:32.608
and the soft coral species that had died.

495
00:21:32.608 --> 00:21:34.833
And so it was really important for us

496
00:21:34.833 --> 00:21:36.434
to sort of monitor this.

497
00:21:36.434 --> 00:21:38.160
And so we made it a mission

498
00:21:38.160 --> 00:21:40.714
that we were going to visit this reef every month

499
00:21:40.714 --> 00:21:43.110
to try to track how this was progressing.

500
00:21:43.110 --> 00:21:45.630
And so by the time September rolls around,

501
00:21:45.630 --> 00:21:49.225
and it's a little hard to see maybe from with the comparison

502
00:21:49.225 --> 00:21:51.627
but things were looking a little less white.

503
00:21:51.627 --> 00:21:53.335
They're a little more pale

504
00:21:53.335 --> 00:21:56.155
and there was actually some color coming back to it.

505
00:21:56.155 --> 00:21:57.920
And this is really interesting

506
00:21:57.920 --> 00:21:59.710
for the fact that most of August,

507
00:21:59.710 --> 00:22:01.830
this reef was still experiencing temperatures

508
00:22:01.830 --> 00:22:03.595
above the bleaching threshold,

509
00:22:03.595 --> 00:22:05.395
but corals were actually surviving

510
00:22:05.395 --> 00:22:07.530
and color was coming back to them.

511
00:22:07.530 --> 00:22:09.260
So that was really unique

512
00:22:09.260 --> 00:22:12.417
and really sort of uplifting for us to see that.

513
00:22:12.417 --> 00:22:14.730
And they did not get away unscathed.

514
00:22:14.730 --> 00:22:17.732
And so as you can see, this is a brain coral.

515
00:22:17.732 --> 00:22:20.893
One of them is extremely healthy back in September.

516
00:22:20.893 --> 00:22:24.450
And then we also have corals that were starting to die.

517
00:22:24.450 --> 00:22:27.115
They had been at that temperature for too long

518
00:22:27.115 --> 00:22:29.150
and they were not able to survive

519
00:22:29.150 --> 00:22:30.805
and maintain their nutrients.

520
00:22:30.805 --> 00:22:32.417
So this coral on the bottom,

521
00:22:32.417 --> 00:22:33.973
it was starting to die

522
00:22:33.973 --> 00:22:36.783
and lose its tissue and its coverage.

523
00:22:37.870 --> 00:22:40.260
And so even follow that a little bit more,

524
00:22:40.260 --> 00:22:43.770
we continued to go through October and December.

525
00:22:43.770 --> 00:22:48.510
And by October, some of these corals were actually full

526
00:22:48.510 --> 00:22:52.790
and had their dark, dark colors back looking really healthy.

527
00:22:52.790 --> 00:22:55.680
But obviously some of these were still bleached.

528
00:22:55.680 --> 00:22:57.988
And I think it's really interesting to see

529
00:22:57.988 --> 00:23:00.510
kind of then once December came around

530
00:23:00.510 --> 00:23:02.735
and things were really cooling down,

531
00:23:03.867 --> 00:23:06.547
that some of these corals had survived completely,

532
00:23:06.547 --> 00:23:09.480
but some were actually losing still a lot of their tissue

533
00:23:09.480 --> 00:23:10.808
and hadn't come back.

534
00:23:10.808 --> 00:23:12.395
And so we saw this pattern

535
00:23:12.395 --> 00:23:14.343
where a lot of the tops of the corals

536
00:23:14.343 --> 00:23:16.228
was sort of this direct sunlight

537
00:23:16.228 --> 00:23:18.995
and then this direct impact hadn't survived.

538
00:23:18.995 --> 00:23:21.090
And so we plan to keep monitoring.

539
00:23:21.090 --> 00:23:23.018
Unfortunately, our weather has been

540
00:23:23.018 --> 00:23:24.965
really rough down here recently.

541
00:23:24.965 --> 00:23:28.088
We haven't been able to been back out since December 5th,

542
00:23:28.088 --> 00:23:30.540
but we plan to continue to keep monitoring

543
00:23:30.540 --> 00:23:33.780
and the progression and the death of these corals

544
00:23:33.780 --> 00:23:36.942
and hopeful or more so recovery rather than death.

545
00:23:36.942 --> 00:23:39.870
And to be able to really get a large picture

546
00:23:39.870 --> 00:23:44.866
of how this bleaching events impacted this local coral reef.

547
00:23:44.866 --> 00:23:47.167
And so one of the ways we kind of plan

548
00:23:47.167 --> 00:23:48.560
to continue to do this

549
00:23:48.560 --> 00:23:51.540
is we have our six long-term transects at Cheeca Rocks.

550
00:23:51.540 --> 00:23:54.690
We're trying to visit these as often as monthly as possible

551
00:23:54.690 --> 00:23:56.520
to continue this collection.

552
00:23:56.520 --> 00:23:58.817
We're collaborating with the sanctuary

553
00:23:58.817 --> 00:24:01.215
and we're increasing our climate monitoring

554
00:24:01.215 --> 00:24:03.050
at the Mission: Iconic Reefs,

555
00:24:03.050 --> 00:24:05.112
which are seven reefs in the Florida Keys

556
00:24:05.112 --> 00:24:07.937
that the sanctuary has devoted a certain project

557
00:24:07.937 --> 00:24:09.540
to really restoring these reefs

558
00:24:09.540 --> 00:24:12.300
to get them hopefully back to what they used to be.

559
00:24:12.300 --> 00:24:14.635
Our lab is also working with some partners

560
00:24:14.635 --> 00:24:16.805
to look at bioerosion of sort of critical

561
00:24:16.805 --> 00:24:19.290
reef building species and certain colonies.

562
00:24:19.290 --> 00:24:21.414
And then we hope to take all of these mosaics

563
00:24:21.414 --> 00:24:22.571
that we've collected

564
00:24:22.571 --> 00:24:24.840
and do a large colony tracking analysis

565
00:24:24.840 --> 00:24:26.910
similar to this paper on the right.

566
00:24:26.910 --> 00:24:28.433
And so what we're able to do

567
00:24:28.433 --> 00:24:31.133
is sort of track each of these individual colonies

568
00:24:31.133 --> 00:24:34.440
over time, see how much tissue, see how much bleached,

569
00:24:34.440 --> 00:24:36.456
see how much tissue came back,

570
00:24:36.456 --> 00:24:38.380
see how much tissue was lost

571
00:24:38.380 --> 00:24:42.243
and get a really good quantification of what these reefs,

572
00:24:43.110 --> 00:24:46.530
how they survived, what we can learn from them,

573
00:24:46.530 --> 00:24:49.890
which coral species and which coral genotypes

574
00:24:49.890 --> 00:24:53.430
were more hardy and more resistant

575
00:24:53.430 --> 00:24:56.310
to coral, to climate change and bleaching.

576
00:24:56.310 --> 00:24:59.968
And so we take all this data and we collect a lot of it

577
00:24:59.968 --> 00:25:02.850
and try to not get too deep in the science here,

578
00:25:02.850 --> 00:25:04.707
but this work is so important,

579
00:25:04.707 --> 00:25:07.770
but it doesn't actually matter unless it's known about

580
00:25:07.770 --> 00:25:09.750
and the community understands

581
00:25:09.750 --> 00:25:11.846
what these reefs are experiencing.

582
00:25:11.846 --> 00:25:14.970
And so we're working very hard to create reports

583
00:25:14.970 --> 00:25:18.180
available for stakeholders and managers

584
00:25:18.180 --> 00:25:22.515
and the general public after each of our monitoring trips,

585
00:25:22.515 --> 00:25:24.030
like here on the right.

586
00:25:24.030 --> 00:25:26.853
And all of this data then is taken and compiled

587
00:25:26.853 --> 00:25:29.430
from our climate data to the fish, the benthic

588
00:25:29.430 --> 00:25:31.980
and the socioeconomic, our human perceptions.

589
00:25:31.980 --> 00:25:34.223
And it's put into a report to kind of give

590
00:25:34.223 --> 00:25:36.417
this overall picture and status report

591
00:25:36.417 --> 00:25:38.280
of how these reefs are doing.

592
00:25:38.280 --> 00:25:42.655
And so these are available for not only Flower Garden Banks

593
00:25:42.655 --> 00:25:45.540
but they're also available in our other jurisdictions

594
00:25:45.540 --> 00:25:46.620
that we visit.

595
00:25:46.620 --> 00:25:50.190
The US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, throughout Florida.

596
00:25:50.190 --> 00:25:53.292
And then there was a national coral reef report

597
00:25:53.292 --> 00:25:55.500
that synthesized not only the Atlantic,

598
00:25:55.500 --> 00:25:58.128
but all of this work is also done in the Pacific.

599
00:25:58.128 --> 00:26:02.898
And so that report is available for the general public

600
00:26:02.898 --> 00:26:05.374
and none of this would be able to be done

601
00:26:05.374 --> 00:26:08.193
without my amazing team that is growing by the minute.

602
00:26:08.193 --> 00:26:11.128
I think we've had three more people that have joined

603
00:26:11.128 --> 00:26:13.680
since I even made this presentation,

604
00:26:13.680 --> 00:26:16.092
but it is this amazing group of scientists

605
00:26:16.092 --> 00:26:18.390
that make all of this possible.

606
00:26:18.390 --> 00:26:21.110
And so with that, I just wanted to say thank you

607
00:26:21.110 --> 00:26:23.013
and I will take any questions.

608
00:26:27.150 --> 00:26:28.950
<v ->Thank you, Nicole. [cough]</v>

609
00:26:28.950 --> 00:26:30.040
I'm sorry, folks.

610
00:26:30.040 --> 00:26:32.190
We are happy to take your questions

611
00:26:32.190 --> 00:26:34.582
if you will enter them into the question box

612
00:26:34.582 --> 00:26:36.180
there on your control panel.

613
00:26:36.180 --> 00:26:37.838
If your control panel is hidden,

614
00:26:37.838 --> 00:26:39.450
look for a little vertical bar

615
00:26:39.450 --> 00:26:40.800
on the right-hand side of your screen.

616
00:26:40.800 --> 00:26:42.350
There's a little orange arrow at the top.

617
00:26:42.350 --> 00:26:44.542
Click on that arrow to reopen your control panel for you.

618
00:26:44.542 --> 00:26:47.177
And you just look down for one of the gray bars

619
00:26:47.177 --> 00:26:48.480
that says questions.

620
00:26:48.480 --> 00:26:50.338
And then you can type in there

621
00:26:50.338 --> 00:26:53.732
and we will start sharing these questions with Nicole.

622
00:26:53.732 --> 00:26:55.560
So let me see what we've got

623
00:26:55.560 --> 00:26:57.751
for an initial question for you here.

624
00:26:58.860 --> 00:27:02.293
We had some that came in early on while you were talking.

625
00:27:04.260 --> 00:27:06.510
All right, how much of the erosion

626
00:27:06.510 --> 00:27:08.490
is attributed to coral mortality

627
00:27:08.490 --> 00:27:10.892
due to water degradation in Florida reefs

628
00:27:10.892 --> 00:27:12.555
prior to bleaching?

629
00:27:16.150 --> 00:27:17.970
<v ->That is a good question.</v>

630
00:27:17.970 --> 00:27:22.230
I don't know if there is essentially a metric

631
00:27:22.230 --> 00:27:25.697
to kind of quantify how much specifically is,

632
00:27:25.697 --> 00:27:27.633
we look at the density of corals

633
00:27:27.633 --> 00:27:29.670
and that can sort of give a picture,

634
00:27:29.670 --> 00:27:32.940
but the thing is it's not really just one aspect

635
00:27:32.940 --> 00:27:34.260
now at this point.

636
00:27:34.260 --> 00:27:36.750
It's water quality, it's temperature,

637
00:27:36.750 --> 00:27:38.070
it's the bioeroders.

638
00:27:38.070 --> 00:27:42.600
And so we really try to use a very holistic

639
00:27:42.600 --> 00:27:45.810
way of looking at this erosion.

640
00:27:45.810 --> 00:27:48.363
And so while it's,

641
00:27:50.202 --> 00:27:52.204
we use all these different metrics

642
00:27:52.204 --> 00:27:54.090
to be able to put them together,

643
00:27:54.090 --> 00:27:56.310
but I don't know if we can say at this point

644
00:27:56.310 --> 00:27:58.050
exactly how much contribution to that

645
00:27:58.050 --> 00:28:00.287
is specifically because of the water

646
00:28:00.287 --> 00:28:03.480
versus just sort of the environment as a whole.

647
00:28:03.480 --> 00:28:04.950
<v ->That makes sense.</v>

648
00:28:04.950 --> 00:28:06.780
All right, second question.

649
00:28:06.780 --> 00:28:08.850
As ocean temperature increases,

650
00:28:08.850 --> 00:28:10.800
it can't hold as much CO2.

651
00:28:10.800 --> 00:28:14.073
Is that capable of remediating the acidification?

652
00:28:16.380 --> 00:28:18.090
<v ->That is a good question.</v>

653
00:28:18.090 --> 00:28:22.960
And I will be honest that I am not an expert

654
00:28:22.960 --> 00:28:25.010
in ocean chemistry.

655
00:28:25.010 --> 00:28:27.960
So I don't feel specifically confident

656
00:28:27.960 --> 00:28:29.910
in answering that question.

657
00:28:29.910 --> 00:28:31.937
<v ->Okay, we will save that for later</v>

658
00:28:31.937 --> 00:28:34.673
and see if we can find a better answer for that.

659
00:28:34.673 --> 00:28:35.610
Let's see.

660
00:28:35.610 --> 00:28:39.508
How do you also incorporate coral disease into your models?

661
00:28:39.508 --> 00:28:41.460
<v ->Yeah, that's a good question.</v>

662
00:28:41.460 --> 00:28:44.250
And so while disease is something

663
00:28:44.250 --> 00:28:46.203
that is monitored,

664
00:28:47.410 --> 00:28:51.300
it's become a metric when we take our,

665
00:28:51.300 --> 00:28:53.530
when they do coral benthic studies

666
00:28:53.530 --> 00:28:58.492
and different, sorry, excuse me, different surveys.

667
00:28:58.492 --> 00:29:00.960
Disease is one of the things that is noted.

668
00:29:00.960 --> 00:29:04.636
And so I think that when we say taking it into account,

669
00:29:04.636 --> 00:29:07.182
we know when we're building the 3D models

670
00:29:07.182 --> 00:29:09.780
and we're kind of comparing from one time point

671
00:29:09.780 --> 00:29:11.310
to the next time point,

672
00:29:11.310 --> 00:29:13.879
and we're also seeing these corals in real time.

673
00:29:13.879 --> 00:29:16.185
So local experts are identifying whether,

674
00:29:16.185 --> 00:29:18.542
okay, we see disease happening here.

675
00:29:18.542 --> 00:29:21.570
For example, during the data from this paper

676
00:29:21.570 --> 00:29:24.660
was a very specific disease outbreak.

677
00:29:24.660 --> 00:29:27.330
And so while we can't attest that everything

678
00:29:27.330 --> 00:29:29.145
with all of the loss of the coral

679
00:29:29.145 --> 00:29:31.830
is specifically disease related,

680
00:29:31.830 --> 00:29:34.558
this type of monitoring was specifically done

681
00:29:34.558 --> 00:29:36.450
to track the disease progression.

682
00:29:36.450 --> 00:29:38.495
And so there was more time points.

683
00:29:38.495 --> 00:29:40.385
And so we're able to actually see

684
00:29:40.385 --> 00:29:42.470
that that was specific loss to disease

685
00:29:42.470 --> 00:29:43.977
and quantify it that way.

686
00:29:43.977 --> 00:29:47.280
But in a larger scale, when we're going from year to year,

687
00:29:47.280 --> 00:29:50.710
we're maybe not necessarily pinpointing that it was disease,

688
00:29:50.710 --> 00:29:53.873
but in our case, because we're now looking at bleaching

689
00:29:53.873 --> 00:29:55.470
for this past summer,

690
00:29:55.470 --> 00:29:58.870
we've taken those very specific time points of bleaching.

691
00:29:58.870 --> 00:30:01.922
There was actually, once a bleaching event happens,

692
00:30:01.922 --> 00:30:04.380
there's not really as much active disease

693
00:30:04.380 --> 00:30:06.107
that's taking over the coral.

694
00:30:06.107 --> 00:30:09.383
This specifically with Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease,

695
00:30:09.383 --> 00:30:12.000
they've actually found that rates of it decrease

696
00:30:12.000 --> 00:30:13.710
as temperatures increase.

697
00:30:13.710 --> 00:30:16.114
And so we hope that when we're looking

698
00:30:16.114 --> 00:30:17.965
at this sort of bleaching study,

699
00:30:17.965 --> 00:30:19.800
it'll be easier to kind of pinpoint

700
00:30:19.800 --> 00:30:22.210
that things were specific to bleaching loss

701
00:30:22.210 --> 00:30:23.951
rather than disease loss.

702
00:30:25.320 --> 00:30:26.930
<v ->Okay, thank you.</v>

703
00:30:28.150 --> 00:30:31.200
How do you quantify damage to reefs

704
00:30:31.200 --> 00:30:34.473
by tourists and researchers and surveyors and such?

705
00:30:35.610 --> 00:30:38.670
<v ->Yeah, it's not as maybe straightforward</v>

706
00:30:38.670 --> 00:30:40.263
as it would seem.

707
00:30:41.310 --> 00:30:44.365
We cannot necessarily tell if a coral

708
00:30:44.365 --> 00:30:47.670
maybe got damaged and lost some of its polyps

709
00:30:47.670 --> 00:30:50.010
from like a local person,

710
00:30:50.010 --> 00:30:52.410
like a diver kicking it with their fin.

711
00:30:52.410 --> 00:30:56.070
The one way that is probably the most obvious

712
00:30:56.070 --> 00:30:57.870
is boat anchors.

713
00:30:57.870 --> 00:31:01.767
And so most sanctuaries throughout the Florida Keys

714
00:31:01.767 --> 00:31:03.550
and Flower Garden Banks,

715
00:31:03.550 --> 00:31:05.730
I know as well set up mooring buoys.

716
00:31:05.730 --> 00:31:07.260
And this is so important

717
00:31:07.260 --> 00:31:10.440
because these are permanent mooring buoys.

718
00:31:10.440 --> 00:31:12.513
They are connected to the bottom

719
00:31:12.513 --> 00:31:14.952
and they allow a safe way for the public

720
00:31:14.952 --> 00:31:16.650
to visit these sanctuaries

721
00:31:16.650 --> 00:31:19.550
and not drop anchors on the bottom of the ocean

722
00:31:19.550 --> 00:31:22.063
because that is often how they get caught

723
00:31:22.063 --> 00:31:24.120
and pull up parts of the reef.

724
00:31:24.120 --> 00:31:26.372
So that's the most obvious kind of way

725
00:31:26.372 --> 00:31:28.093
that we can actually tell

726
00:31:28.093 --> 00:31:30.540
that it was sort of a human visitation

727
00:31:30.540 --> 00:31:32.100
versus something else.

728
00:31:32.100 --> 00:31:35.223
But other than that, that's kind of the main way.

729
00:31:37.140 --> 00:31:38.482
<v ->Thank you.</v>

730
00:31:38.482 --> 00:31:40.740
Now onto the Flower Garden Banks.

731
00:31:40.740 --> 00:31:42.300
Can you elaborate a bit more

732
00:31:42.300 --> 00:31:44.230
on the status of the Flower Garden Banks

733
00:31:44.230 --> 00:31:45.837
in face of all the bleaching and so forth

734
00:31:45.837 --> 00:31:47.490
that you've been studying?

735
00:31:47.490 --> 00:31:48.753
<v ->Yeah, of course.</v>

736
00:31:49.670 --> 00:31:52.738
I can't say I'm the local Flower Garden Banks expert

737
00:31:52.738 --> 00:31:56.070
more than the people that actually work for the sanctuary.

738
00:31:56.070 --> 00:31:58.980
But I do know that the bleaching events

739
00:31:58.980 --> 00:32:01.367
while it took place in 2023

740
00:32:01.367 --> 00:32:03.570
kind of started a little bit later

741
00:32:03.570 --> 00:32:05.880
from when Florida had experienced it.

742
00:32:05.880 --> 00:32:07.865
And so while the bleaching happened,

743
00:32:07.865 --> 00:32:10.720
it was close enough that it was getting into sort of fall

744
00:32:10.720 --> 00:32:11.820
into cooler season

745
00:32:11.820 --> 00:32:14.458
that the temperatures cooled down a lot quicker.

746
00:32:14.458 --> 00:32:16.230
And so it's my understanding

747
00:32:16.230 --> 00:32:18.537
from sort of collaborating with our partners

748
00:32:18.537 --> 00:32:20.930
as I haven't been there from this past summer

749
00:32:20.930 --> 00:32:23.557
is that the reefs of the Flower Garden Banks

750
00:32:23.557 --> 00:32:26.640
still survived and perceived fairly well after this event.

751
00:32:26.640 --> 00:32:29.832
But Kelly, please correct me if that is not the case.

752
00:32:29.832 --> 00:32:31.073
<v ->That is the case.</v>

753
00:32:31.073 --> 00:32:33.102
We did start later than Florida,

754
00:32:33.102 --> 00:32:35.010
but we started earlier than usual.

755
00:32:35.010 --> 00:32:38.177
So normally our hottest months at the Flower Garden Banks

756
00:32:38.177 --> 00:32:39.910
are August and September.

757
00:32:39.910 --> 00:32:41.946
And so we start to see bleaching

758
00:32:41.946 --> 00:32:44.760
in the September into October into November.

759
00:32:44.760 --> 00:32:48.548
And this year, coral bleaching started like the end of July.

760
00:32:48.548 --> 00:32:50.580
So it was a lot earlier than usual.

761
00:32:50.580 --> 00:32:52.432
Temperatures increased a lot,

762
00:32:52.432 --> 00:32:54.740
but we are deeper to start with

763
00:32:54.740 --> 00:32:57.615
at about 60 feet at the shallowest point on our reefs.

764
00:32:57.615 --> 00:32:59.760
And we are surrounded by deeper water,

765
00:32:59.760 --> 00:33:01.800
which also helps to mitigate temperature some.

766
00:33:01.800 --> 00:33:04.080
So it takes longer for our temperatures

767
00:33:04.080 --> 00:33:06.240
to elevate to the same extent as those in the Keys.

768
00:33:06.240 --> 00:33:07.470
And then a lot of the Keys reefs

769
00:33:07.470 --> 00:33:08.950
are just a lot closer to the surface

770
00:33:08.950 --> 00:33:10.920
and they get those temperature effects

771
00:33:10.920 --> 00:33:12.570
a lot sooner than the deeper reefs.

772
00:33:12.570 --> 00:33:14.850
So it was the shallower reefs in Florida,

773
00:33:14.850 --> 00:33:16.163
if I'm not mistaken,

774
00:33:16.163 --> 00:33:18.652
that bleached most severely and the earliest.

775
00:33:18.652 --> 00:33:20.400
And then it took longer again,

776
00:33:20.400 --> 00:33:22.543
even there to reach the deeper reefs.

777
00:33:22.543 --> 00:33:23.790
<v ->Yep, that's correct.</v>

778
00:33:23.790 --> 00:33:25.980
Yeah, I might've forgot to mention that,

779
00:33:25.980 --> 00:33:28.200
but all those pictures of that reef Cheeca Rocks

780
00:33:28.200 --> 00:33:30.810
that I mentioned, it's only a mile and a half offshore

781
00:33:30.810 --> 00:33:33.420
and that entire reef sits in 15 feet of water.

782
00:33:33.420 --> 00:33:36.090
So you can kind of see everything from the surface,

783
00:33:36.090 --> 00:33:38.220
generally just floating from the surface

784
00:33:38.220 --> 00:33:39.480
if you're snorkeling.

785
00:33:39.480 --> 00:33:41.940
And so it's really close and it's really exposed.

786
00:33:41.940 --> 00:33:44.078
And so that's definitely one of the reason

787
00:33:44.078 --> 00:33:46.332
that those shallower and more inshore reefs

788
00:33:46.332 --> 00:33:49.410
suffered greatly than the offshore reefs.

789
00:33:49.410 --> 00:33:52.023
<v ->Okay, next question.</v>

790
00:33:52.023 --> 00:33:54.150
You said the primary production

791
00:33:54.150 --> 00:33:56.640
is helping mitigate some bleaching effects.

792
00:33:56.640 --> 00:33:58.970
Are you seeing more protection in areas

793
00:33:58.970 --> 00:34:02.160
that have high nutrient pollution?

794
00:34:02.160 --> 00:34:05.602
<v ->Yeah, so I think the sort of primary producing areas</v>

795
00:34:05.602 --> 00:34:08.400
are actually helping in a couple of different ways.

796
00:34:08.400 --> 00:34:11.980
The water systems with higher nutrients

797
00:34:13.350 --> 00:34:16.627
tend to, in some cases, not be as clear.

798
00:34:16.627 --> 00:34:19.620
So Cheeca Rocks, the water quality at certain times

799
00:34:19.620 --> 00:34:22.170
is really awful.

800
00:34:22.170 --> 00:34:25.882
I've been there where I can only see maybe like my hand away

801
00:34:25.882 --> 00:34:27.023
and that's it.

802
00:34:27.023 --> 00:34:30.310
And so we do think that some of that sort of water clarity

803
00:34:30.310 --> 00:34:32.442
or lack of water clarity and shading

804
00:34:32.442 --> 00:34:34.500
can really help in the bleaching.

805
00:34:34.500 --> 00:34:37.200
But another way that the primary producers

806
00:34:37.200 --> 00:34:41.345
in those inshore reefs really help is with CO2 uptake.

807
00:34:41.345 --> 00:34:43.283
And so those seagrass beds,

808
00:34:43.283 --> 00:34:45.900
they're actually altering the water chemistry

809
00:34:45.900 --> 00:34:48.030
and that's what's making those areas

810
00:34:48.030 --> 00:34:50.133
more hospitable for corals.

811
00:34:52.530 --> 00:34:53.583
<v ->Thank you.</v>

812
00:34:54.990 --> 00:34:58.320
Can you elaborate why you said the deeper offshore reefs

813
00:34:58.320 --> 00:35:00.690
were more susceptible to ocean acidification

814
00:35:00.690 --> 00:35:02.790
than the patch reefs in the Keys?

815
00:35:02.790 --> 00:35:05.393
Is it just because there are more coral cover

816
00:35:05.393 --> 00:35:08.572
left on the patch reefs than on the fore reefs?

817
00:35:08.572 --> 00:35:10.710
<v ->Yeah, so it's a little bit to build on</v>

818
00:35:10.710 --> 00:35:12.360
kind of what I just said.

819
00:35:12.360 --> 00:35:14.640
We're actually seeing in some senses

820
00:35:14.640 --> 00:35:18.420
higher coral cover at patch reefs versus offshore.

821
00:35:18.420 --> 00:35:21.780
And so I wouldn't say that that's really a why,

822
00:35:21.780 --> 00:35:24.722
but it's almost like how are the inshore reefs so persistent

823
00:35:24.722 --> 00:35:26.297
whereas the offshore reefs,

824
00:35:26.297 --> 00:35:27.930
we've lost so much coral cover.

825
00:35:27.930 --> 00:35:30.495
And I think that's where when we really started

826
00:35:30.495 --> 00:35:32.885
to look into the environmental parameters,

827
00:35:32.885 --> 00:35:36.150
we're seeing this sort of ocean acidification refuge.

828
00:35:36.150 --> 00:35:39.930
And so there's obviously a bunch of other

829
00:35:39.930 --> 00:35:43.140
sort of environmental parameters that play into this,

830
00:35:43.140 --> 00:35:45.720
but it's one sort of way that maybe these,

831
00:35:45.720 --> 00:35:49.230
the water quality in this area is actually more

832
00:35:49.230 --> 00:35:54.002
essentially allowed for corals to grow and persist.

833
00:35:54.002 --> 00:35:57.570
So that's sort of one way that we've just kind of been able

834
00:35:57.570 --> 00:35:59.970
to tease apart that water chemistry

835
00:35:59.970 --> 00:36:04.770
and see that reduction in CO2 and reduction in pH

836
00:36:04.770 --> 00:36:07.020
is actually helping those reefs persist more.

837
00:36:13.715 --> 00:36:15.327
<v ->Sorry, my microphone.</v>

838
00:36:15.327 --> 00:36:18.420
What are the biggest priorities over the next few years

839
00:36:18.420 --> 00:36:20.540
for this monitoring program?

840
00:36:20.540 --> 00:36:22.920
<v ->That is a great question.</v>

841
00:36:22.920 --> 00:36:25.830
So the biggest priorities over the next few years

842
00:36:25.830 --> 00:36:27.780
with this monitoring program

843
00:36:27.780 --> 00:36:31.988
are to really kind of pull and develop the data

844
00:36:31.988 --> 00:36:34.200
that we've been collecting.

845
00:36:34.200 --> 00:36:36.330
A lot of climatological data

846
00:36:36.330 --> 00:36:40.260
can't actually really draw trends and conclusions

847
00:36:40.260 --> 00:36:42.422
until almost 10 to 15 years.

848
00:36:42.422 --> 00:36:44.855
And so we are just now reaching that point

849
00:36:44.855 --> 00:36:46.390
of the data that we have.

850
00:36:46.390 --> 00:36:48.768
And so while we have so much that we can do

851
00:36:48.768 --> 00:36:50.293
with the data that we've had,

852
00:36:50.293 --> 00:36:52.617
we haven't really been able to pull these status

853
00:36:52.617 --> 00:36:53.920
and trends from the data.

854
00:36:53.920 --> 00:36:56.367
And so there's going to be a big push for analysis

855
00:36:56.367 --> 00:36:58.482
of this upcoming data, or excuse me,

856
00:36:58.482 --> 00:37:01.530
a big push for analysis with the data that we have.

857
00:37:01.530 --> 00:37:03.300
So this will be in the form

858
00:37:03.300 --> 00:37:05.160
of likely scientific publications,

859
00:37:05.160 --> 00:37:06.660
but also technical reports

860
00:37:06.660 --> 00:37:08.972
and really be able to get this information

861
00:37:08.972 --> 00:37:11.440
back to the local managers and stakeholders

862
00:37:11.440 --> 00:37:14.703
to be able to use that for better management purposes.

863
00:37:17.558 --> 00:37:18.634
<v ->Thank you.</v>

864
00:37:19.480 --> 00:37:21.420
Here's a really good question.

865
00:37:21.420 --> 00:37:24.120
I'm a diver, how do we help?

866
00:37:24.120 --> 00:37:26.580
<v ->That is a great question.</v>

867
00:37:26.580 --> 00:37:29.560
So I think one of the best ways to help as a diver

868
00:37:29.560 --> 00:37:34.560
is truthfully just to learn and experience the ocean.

869
00:37:35.490 --> 00:37:38.820
The more that you can kind of learn and not only learn,

870
00:37:38.820 --> 00:37:40.940
but then help teach and explain

871
00:37:40.940 --> 00:37:43.828
sort of some of these conditions that is happening

872
00:37:43.828 --> 00:37:45.860
and what's the reefs are experiencing

873
00:37:45.860 --> 00:37:47.720
and the state of these reefs

874
00:37:47.720 --> 00:37:51.378
to be able to make people more aware of what's happening.

875
00:37:52.380 --> 00:37:55.560
It's so important that we sort of like drive this attention

876
00:37:55.560 --> 00:37:58.472
and get the attention about the sort of the state

877
00:37:58.472 --> 00:37:59.513
of our reefs.

878
00:37:59.513 --> 00:38:01.505
So I think that's one of the best ways.

879
00:38:01.505 --> 00:38:04.819
And of course, in other ways, it's do safe diving practices,

880
00:38:04.819 --> 00:38:06.578
practice proper buoyancy.

881
00:38:06.578 --> 00:38:09.000
If you see trash, collect trash.

882
00:38:09.000 --> 00:38:12.273
Those are some of the best ways to be able to give back.

883
00:38:14.640 --> 00:38:16.730
<v ->I think that's a great answer.</v>

884
00:38:16.730 --> 00:38:20.630
Are there areas where coral reefs are growing

885
00:38:20.630 --> 00:38:22.442
rather than eroding?

886
00:38:22.442 --> 00:38:23.820
<v ->Yeah, absolutely.</v>

887
00:38:23.820 --> 00:38:27.930
And so while that sort of image I showed before,

888
00:38:27.930 --> 00:38:32.930
we can go back to, let's see, there we are.

889
00:38:35.070 --> 00:38:39.180
So I would also like to say like very specifically,

890
00:38:39.180 --> 00:38:41.795
Flower Garden Banks is very much growing.

891
00:38:41.795 --> 00:38:44.417
Out of all of our carbon and budget surveys

892
00:38:44.417 --> 00:38:46.050
that we have completed there,

893
00:38:46.050 --> 00:38:48.210
all of the reefs that all of our sites

894
00:38:48.210 --> 00:38:51.420
that we have studied are still very much net growing

895
00:38:51.420 --> 00:38:52.590
or net erosional.

896
00:38:52.590 --> 00:38:54.600
And so while in the Florida Keys,

897
00:38:54.600 --> 00:38:56.950
it's a little bit of a different story.

898
00:38:56.950 --> 00:39:00.652
We see a lot of red on here, but we do see green.

899
00:39:00.652 --> 00:39:02.928
And that's where we actually found,

900
00:39:02.928 --> 00:39:05.280
there is still some reefs that are growing

901
00:39:05.280 --> 00:39:08.070
and we call this metric net carbonate production.

902
00:39:08.070 --> 00:39:10.110
So that is the carbonate that's growing

903
00:39:10.110 --> 00:39:12.090
and the carbonate that is being eroded away

904
00:39:12.090 --> 00:39:13.790
and that's how much is left.

905
00:39:13.790 --> 00:39:15.720
And so all of these green sites

906
00:39:15.720 --> 00:39:19.140
that we're seeing on this map are reefs that are growing.

907
00:39:19.140 --> 00:39:22.113
And so it is much less than the ones that are eroding,

908
00:39:22.113 --> 00:39:24.180
but that's where we sort of noticed

909
00:39:24.180 --> 00:39:26.938
that we were able to see that these sort of,

910
00:39:26.938 --> 00:39:29.142
if you look at the really, really inshore reefs,

911
00:39:29.142 --> 00:39:31.680
we see a lot of red here, red and orange.

912
00:39:31.680 --> 00:39:34.308
But if you actually look at the mid-channel reefs,

913
00:39:34.308 --> 00:39:35.347
oops, hold on.

914
00:39:35.347 --> 00:39:36.762
If you actually look at the mid-channel reefs,

915
00:39:36.762 --> 00:39:39.850
this is where a lot of that green kind of comes into play.

916
00:39:39.850 --> 00:39:42.510
And that's sort of that, those sort of shallower,

917
00:39:42.510 --> 00:39:45.240
this is where Cheeca Rocks falls into that category.

918
00:39:45.240 --> 00:39:47.120
And so there are still quite a bit of reefs

919
00:39:47.120 --> 00:39:48.840
in the Keys that are growing.

920
00:39:48.840 --> 00:39:51.255
So that's why we're trying to learn the most

921
00:39:51.255 --> 00:39:53.980
from these reefs and why they're doing so well.

922
00:39:55.950 --> 00:39:58.519
<v ->Okay, so I'm scrolling through my,</v>

923
00:39:58.519 --> 00:40:00.968
there's a long list of questions here.

924
00:40:00.968 --> 00:40:03.593
Trying to find a specific one.

925
00:40:03.593 --> 00:40:05.910
Okay, do coral predators like parrotfish

926
00:40:05.910 --> 00:40:08.907
become more aggressive during and after bleaching

927
00:40:08.907 --> 00:40:11.183
when the corals are weakened?

928
00:40:12.270 --> 00:40:13.440
<v ->Great question.</v>

929
00:40:13.440 --> 00:40:18.440
I do know that, I don't know if specifically to bleaching,

930
00:40:18.613 --> 00:40:21.240
but one observation that we have seen

931
00:40:21.240 --> 00:40:23.910
is that when a coral is sick or diseased,

932
00:40:23.910 --> 00:40:25.905
is that those sort of open lesions

933
00:40:25.905 --> 00:40:27.693
do actually attract parrotfish.

934
00:40:27.693 --> 00:40:30.620
So I don't know if aggressive is the more appropriate word,

935
00:40:30.620 --> 00:40:32.667
but I do think that there has been

936
00:40:32.667 --> 00:40:34.868
some at least anecdotal observations

937
00:40:34.868 --> 00:40:38.250
of when corals are at least like more exposed or more open,

938
00:40:38.250 --> 00:40:40.203
they can definitely feed more.

939
00:40:40.203 --> 00:40:43.323
That being said, I think part of what,

940
00:40:45.300 --> 00:40:47.667
the corals actually lack less nutrition

941
00:40:47.667 --> 00:40:49.770
for them when they are bleached.

942
00:40:49.770 --> 00:40:52.007
And so while there was not,

943
00:40:52.007 --> 00:40:54.869
we did not see any like sort of loss of fish life

944
00:40:54.869 --> 00:40:57.252
while the corals are bleached.

945
00:40:57.252 --> 00:40:59.613
I don't know if we can necessarily say

946
00:40:59.613 --> 00:41:02.883
that we saw more or less parrotfish feeding.

947
00:41:04.600 --> 00:41:05.493
<v ->Thank you.</v>

948
00:41:06.350 --> 00:41:08.460
What lessons have you all learned

949
00:41:08.460 --> 00:41:10.557
from the extremes of this past year

950
00:41:10.557 --> 00:41:13.440
in terms of building climate resilience?

951
00:41:13.440 --> 00:41:15.210
<v ->That's a great question.</v>

952
00:41:15.210 --> 00:41:18.030
I think one thing that we've realized

953
00:41:18.030 --> 00:41:23.030
is that we can put in so much effort,

954
00:41:25.300 --> 00:41:27.510
but we need to start making

955
00:41:27.510 --> 00:41:29.730
a lot of our impacts larger scale.

956
00:41:29.730 --> 00:41:32.545
And so part of that Mission: Iconic Reefs project

957
00:41:32.545 --> 00:41:35.940
that I mentioned before, so much work and so much effort

958
00:41:35.940 --> 00:41:38.037
that all of these different partners

959
00:41:38.037 --> 00:41:40.652
and local entities, whether it's the sanctuary,

960
00:41:40.652 --> 00:41:42.265
whether it's universities,

961
00:41:42.265 --> 00:41:45.266
researchers are putting so much effort into restoration.

962
00:41:45.266 --> 00:41:47.953
But if all of those corals that are being grown

963
00:41:47.953 --> 00:41:51.320
and output, can die almost in one summer,

964
00:41:51.320 --> 00:41:54.270
we need to be doing things on a larger scale.

965
00:41:54.270 --> 00:41:57.870
And so there's a lot of work that we really need

966
00:41:57.870 --> 00:42:01.830
to essentially like build up our restoration ability,

967
00:42:01.830 --> 00:42:04.352
build up our way to be able to build corals

968
00:42:04.352 --> 00:42:06.167
and sort of look at them holistically.

969
00:42:06.167 --> 00:42:07.950
And so I think we've just realized

970
00:42:07.950 --> 00:42:10.388
that this problem is here and it's now,

971
00:42:10.388 --> 00:42:12.523
and it's not something in the future.

972
00:42:12.523 --> 00:42:16.350
And we need to start making sort of strategic ideas

973
00:42:17.370 --> 00:42:19.800
of how we can study and help to diminish

974
00:42:19.800 --> 00:42:22.530
from this getting worse.

975
00:42:22.530 --> 00:42:24.420
<v ->Thank you.</v>

976
00:42:24.420 --> 00:42:27.390
Are you seeing any adaptation or evolution

977
00:42:27.390 --> 00:42:30.815
by the coral to the higher temperatures and water quality?

978
00:42:31.860 --> 00:42:34.320
<v ->Yeah, so one of the projects</v>

979
00:42:34.320 --> 00:42:36.215
that is not in my specialty,

980
00:42:36.215 --> 00:42:38.280
but something that our lab studies

981
00:42:38.280 --> 00:42:40.230
is actually called urban corals.

982
00:42:40.230 --> 00:42:43.977
And so our lab is located right off the coast of Miami.

983
00:42:43.977 --> 00:42:46.590
And so if you have never been into Miami,

984
00:42:46.590 --> 00:42:48.150
it's a very populated city.

985
00:42:48.150 --> 00:42:51.450
The majority of the population lives right on the coastline.

986
00:42:51.450 --> 00:42:53.730
And so what's really interesting

987
00:42:53.730 --> 00:42:57.960
is that in these sort of intertidal areas

988
00:42:57.960 --> 00:42:59.587
within the inshore,

989
00:42:59.587 --> 00:43:02.580
sort of where all these houses are built on islands

990
00:43:02.580 --> 00:43:06.000
and the bay and the ports and all of these cruise ships,

991
00:43:06.000 --> 00:43:08.987
corals are actually living and they're not just living,

992
00:43:08.987 --> 00:43:11.013
they are thriving and surviving.

993
00:43:12.690 --> 00:43:17.070
So the, excuse me,

994
00:43:17.070 --> 00:43:19.610
a PI in our lab, Dr. Michael Stadovan

995
00:43:19.610 --> 00:43:21.930
has sort of been really taking a look

996
00:43:21.930 --> 00:43:23.640
at all of these urban corals.

997
00:43:23.640 --> 00:43:25.950
And he uses omics method.

998
00:43:25.950 --> 00:43:29.033
So he looks at their genotype and their transcriptomics

999
00:43:29.033 --> 00:43:31.410
and sort of how their genes are expressing

1000
00:43:31.410 --> 00:43:34.458
to be able to see what's different about these corals

1001
00:43:34.458 --> 00:43:36.998
and how they're actually adapted to live so well

1002
00:43:36.998 --> 00:43:39.043
in these areas where temperatures

1003
00:43:39.043 --> 00:43:42.390
get beyond anything normal that a coral would experience.

1004
00:43:42.390 --> 00:43:44.783
And they experience extreme exchanges.

1005
00:43:44.783 --> 00:43:47.104
So the salinity changes at a drop of a hat,

1006
00:43:47.104 --> 00:43:49.520
the temperature changes at a drop of a hat,

1007
00:43:49.520 --> 00:43:51.533
yet they're still able to survive.

1008
00:43:51.533 --> 00:43:54.077
So this is sort of an example and an adaptation

1009
00:43:54.077 --> 00:43:56.227
of these sort of extreme environment events

1010
00:43:56.227 --> 00:43:58.440
where corals are still able to persist.

1011
00:43:59.802 --> 00:44:00.737
<v ->Interesting.</v>

1012
00:44:00.737 --> 00:44:02.603
I didn't realize that.

1013
00:44:02.603 --> 00:44:04.357
Are any of the surviving corals

1014
00:44:04.357 --> 00:44:05.940
from this year's bleaching event

1015
00:44:05.940 --> 00:44:07.830
being sampled for fragmentation,

1016
00:44:07.830 --> 00:44:09.513
like with Mission: Iconic Reefs

1017
00:44:09.513 --> 00:44:11.013
or at the Flower Garden Banks?

1018
00:44:11.013 --> 00:44:13.945
Or are we mostly using captive breeding at this point

1019
00:44:13.945 --> 00:44:16.018
to deal with the restoration issues?

1020
00:44:16.018 --> 00:44:17.643
<v ->Yeah, it's a little bit of both.</v>

1021
00:44:17.643 --> 00:44:19.527
So with one of our upcoming projects

1022
00:44:19.527 --> 00:44:20.640
where we're sort of looking

1023
00:44:20.640 --> 00:44:22.140
at all of these different stressors,

1024
00:44:22.140 --> 00:44:23.430
so we're looking at nutrient loading,

1025
00:44:23.430 --> 00:44:25.860
we're looking at ocean acidification and temperature,

1026
00:44:25.860 --> 00:44:27.000
we're using a combination.

1027
00:44:27.000 --> 00:44:28.076
So some of these are just sort of

1028
00:44:28.076 --> 00:44:29.740
some of these corals are going to be grown

1029
00:44:29.740 --> 00:44:30.930
at a nursery setting,

1030
00:44:30.930 --> 00:44:33.418
but some of them are also going to be collected.

1031
00:44:33.418 --> 00:44:36.540
It is definitely, we don't have an exact plan for it yet,

1032
00:44:36.540 --> 00:44:39.450
but we would love to sample these corals at Cheeca Rocks

1033
00:44:39.450 --> 00:44:42.840
and be able to see sort of how their genes have changed

1034
00:44:42.840 --> 00:44:44.310
or what they looked like to begin with

1035
00:44:44.310 --> 00:44:46.860
to be able to survive this bleaching event.

1036
00:44:46.860 --> 00:44:49.212
So yeah, it's a little bit of a combination of both

1037
00:44:49.212 --> 00:44:51.552
and definitely plans to try to sort of really dig into that

1038
00:44:51.552 --> 00:44:54.390
and see how these corals are doing so well.

1039
00:44:54.390 --> 00:44:55.223
<v ->Great.</v>

1040
00:44:55.223 --> 00:44:56.700
I'll also add that at the Flower Garden Banks,

1041
00:44:56.700 --> 00:44:58.183
when the bleaching hit

1042
00:44:58.183 --> 00:45:00.780
and we could see which corals didn't bleach,

1043
00:45:00.780 --> 00:45:03.065
we had already started collecting corals

1044
00:45:03.065 --> 00:45:05.310
to bank at Moody Gardens in Galveston,

1045
00:45:05.310 --> 00:45:06.730
this kind of repository,

1046
00:45:06.730 --> 00:45:09.240
the same way Florida Keys started doing it

1047
00:45:09.240 --> 00:45:11.550
when Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease took off.

1048
00:45:11.550 --> 00:45:14.700
We had a disease scare about a year and a half ago.

1049
00:45:14.700 --> 00:45:16.800
We thought it's time for us to start banking corals too.

1050
00:45:16.800 --> 00:45:18.450
So we've already started that.

1051
00:45:18.450 --> 00:45:20.185
But then when the bleaching came this year,

1052
00:45:20.185 --> 00:45:21.650
we also kept an eye out

1053
00:45:21.650 --> 00:45:24.120
for which corals were handling that the best.

1054
00:45:24.120 --> 00:45:25.853
And we brought some of those corals

1055
00:45:25.853 --> 00:45:27.000
into this collection

1056
00:45:27.000 --> 00:45:28.860
so that we can be doing studies ourselves

1057
00:45:28.860 --> 00:45:30.270
to understand a little bit more

1058
00:45:30.270 --> 00:45:32.930
about which corals have that higher heat tolerance

1059
00:45:32.930 --> 00:45:33.771
and so forth,

1060
00:45:33.771 --> 00:45:36.637
whether it's the corals themselves or the symbiotic algae,

1061
00:45:36.637 --> 00:45:38.730
whatever research might find for us,

1062
00:45:38.730 --> 00:45:40.590
we're hoping will give us some answers

1063
00:45:40.590 --> 00:45:42.078
as to how to proceed

1064
00:45:42.078 --> 00:45:44.459
in case we ever have to do coral restoration

1065
00:45:44.459 --> 00:45:46.508
at the Flower Garden Banks.

1066
00:45:47.880 --> 00:45:49.470
Let's see, next one.

1067
00:45:49.470 --> 00:45:51.547
As ocean temperature increases,

1068
00:45:51.547 --> 00:45:53.822
nope, we already did that one, sorry.

1069
00:45:55.500 --> 00:45:58.910
Still had it marked 'cause I wanna come back to that one.

1070
00:46:01.487 --> 00:46:03.540
What was your first experience

1071
00:46:03.540 --> 00:46:05.862
in marine related field work?

1072
00:46:05.862 --> 00:46:07.920
Was there a particular experience

1073
00:46:07.920 --> 00:46:10.040
that led you to marine biology?

1074
00:46:11.190 --> 00:46:13.620
<v ->Yeah, my first experience</v>

1075
00:46:13.620 --> 00:46:16.420
with actual marine related field work

1076
00:46:17.310 --> 00:46:20.928
was I took an internship as soon as I moved to Miami,

1077
00:46:20.928 --> 00:46:23.405
actually working in billfish conservation.

1078
00:46:23.405 --> 00:46:25.380
And so it's nothing that I do now,

1079
00:46:25.380 --> 00:46:27.420
but I got a really important taste

1080
00:46:27.420 --> 00:46:30.690
of essentially conservation impacts

1081
00:46:30.690 --> 00:46:33.000
and connecting with the greater public

1082
00:46:33.000 --> 00:46:35.332
and just sort of how much of a difference

1083
00:46:35.332 --> 00:46:37.440
this can make for the ocean.

1084
00:46:37.440 --> 00:46:39.518
I think that I've been able to do

1085
00:46:39.518 --> 00:46:41.997
a lot of really fortunate jobs along the way.

1086
00:46:41.997 --> 00:46:44.100
My master's degree internship

1087
00:46:44.100 --> 00:46:46.048
was at Biscayne National Park.

1088
00:46:46.048 --> 00:46:48.985
And then I was able to take a job down in St. Croix

1089
00:46:48.985 --> 00:46:51.313
at Buck Island Reef National Monument,

1090
00:46:51.313 --> 00:46:54.243
where we did sea turtle monitoring and coral surveys

1091
00:46:54.243 --> 00:46:56.160
and lionfish control.

1092
00:46:56.160 --> 00:46:59.430
And just to be able to sort of get that really hands-on

1093
00:46:59.430 --> 00:47:01.530
immersed experience in the ocean,

1094
00:47:01.530 --> 00:47:04.187
I think is something so special and so unique.

1095
00:47:04.187 --> 00:47:06.765
And it's really led me to where I am today.

1096
00:47:08.670 --> 00:47:10.080
<v ->Fantastic.</v>

1097
00:47:10.080 --> 00:47:12.810
All right, here's one from an informal educator.

1098
00:47:12.810 --> 00:47:15.528
What would you consider to be the main points

1099
00:47:15.528 --> 00:47:19.340
that I should attempt to get my audience to understand?

1100
00:47:19.340 --> 00:47:22.380
<v ->I think the main points is really</v>

1101
00:47:22.380 --> 00:47:26.790
that our environment is becoming unsuitable

1102
00:47:26.790 --> 00:47:27.990
for certain corals.

1103
00:47:27.990 --> 00:47:32.990
And so these are due to essentially anthropogenic aspects.

1104
00:47:33.352 --> 00:47:36.180
And so it's just really important that we are aware

1105
00:47:36.180 --> 00:47:38.280
that we are losing these resources.

1106
00:47:38.280 --> 00:47:43.023
And if something, and how important they are to us.

1107
00:47:44.435 --> 00:47:46.295
<v ->And along those same lines,</v>

1108
00:47:46.295 --> 00:47:48.660
is there a role that coastal communities

1109
00:47:48.660 --> 00:47:51.103
or scientists in other disciplines can play

1110
00:47:51.103 --> 00:47:54.453
in managing, monitoring and or conserving coral reefs?

1111
00:47:55.320 --> 00:47:57.750
<v ->Yeah, I think a lot of local programs,</v>

1112
00:47:57.750 --> 00:48:01.500
I know there's quite a few throughout the Florida Keys

1113
00:48:01.500 --> 00:48:04.680
and in Miami, but citizen science is so important.

1114
00:48:04.680 --> 00:48:06.780
And it's a way for the general public

1115
00:48:06.780 --> 00:48:09.138
to really be able to contribute and help.

1116
00:48:09.138 --> 00:48:11.580
And so one of the really important things

1117
00:48:11.580 --> 00:48:13.840
that we were advertising this summer

1118
00:48:13.840 --> 00:48:16.226
is a program called Coral Bleach Watch.

1119
00:48:16.226 --> 00:48:19.290
And so this is a program that sort of predicts

1120
00:48:19.290 --> 00:48:22.632
and assesses coral bleaching throughout the globe.

1121
00:48:22.632 --> 00:48:25.015
And so they were asking for participants

1122
00:48:25.015 --> 00:48:27.018
to essentially report bleaching ID.

1123
00:48:27.018 --> 00:48:30.030
So if you are out on the water and you see coral bleaching,

1124
00:48:30.030 --> 00:48:31.381
there's a way to report it.

1125
00:48:31.381 --> 00:48:34.000
And this sort of helps scientists be able to understand

1126
00:48:34.000 --> 00:48:36.072
how a bleaching pattern is tracking.

1127
00:48:36.072 --> 00:48:39.345
There's also a lot of citizen science restoration programs.

1128
00:48:39.345 --> 00:48:42.030
In Miami, there's a project called Rescue Reef.

1129
00:48:42.030 --> 00:48:44.610
And this is where just normal people

1130
00:48:44.610 --> 00:48:46.890
that are open water scuba certified

1131
00:48:46.890 --> 00:48:48.565
can go out with scientists

1132
00:48:48.565 --> 00:48:51.210
and actually be able to help sort of implement

1133
00:48:51.210 --> 00:48:54.438
and participate in coral restoration and outplant corals

1134
00:48:54.438 --> 00:48:56.317
and put those back on the reef.

1135
00:48:56.317 --> 00:48:58.950
So I think there's a lot of ways for local residents

1136
00:48:58.950 --> 00:49:02.922
to get sort of engaged in their local science and research.

1137
00:49:02.922 --> 00:49:03.996
<v ->Thank you.</v>

1138
00:49:03.996 --> 00:49:05.760
Another thing, as an educator myself,

1139
00:49:05.760 --> 00:49:08.428
another thing I would add to that conversation

1140
00:49:08.428 --> 00:49:11.162
is that what we're seeing with the Flower Garden Banks

1141
00:49:11.162 --> 00:49:13.655
is because they are so healthy to start with,

1142
00:49:13.655 --> 00:49:16.050
that they aren't as affected by overfishing,

1143
00:49:16.050 --> 00:49:19.740
by runoff from land, from all these other things

1144
00:49:19.740 --> 00:49:22.760
that really affect those coral reefs close to land

1145
00:49:22.760 --> 00:49:24.827
and close to access,

1146
00:49:24.827 --> 00:49:27.090
that they are proving more resilient

1147
00:49:27.090 --> 00:49:28.560
to a lot of other things.

1148
00:49:28.560 --> 00:49:31.235
And so when we're dealing with our coral reefs,

1149
00:49:31.235 --> 00:49:33.531
it's really important that people understand

1150
00:49:33.531 --> 00:49:35.232
it's the layers of problems

1151
00:49:35.232 --> 00:49:37.592
that are leading to the biggest problem

1152
00:49:37.592 --> 00:49:40.830
of the coral reefs not thriving anymore.

1153
00:49:40.830 --> 00:49:43.303
And so keeping all those threats down,

1154
00:49:43.303 --> 00:49:45.592
keeping as many down as possible

1155
00:49:45.592 --> 00:49:47.005
gives our reefs a better chance

1156
00:49:47.005 --> 00:49:48.910
of coping with climate change,

1157
00:49:48.910 --> 00:49:51.750
which is probably this big overarching threat.

1158
00:49:51.750 --> 00:49:54.390
And so things like runoff are a lot easier

1159
00:49:54.390 --> 00:49:57.900
for us to address immediately in our own households.

1160
00:49:57.900 --> 00:50:00.390
Things like marine debris,

1161
00:50:00.390 --> 00:50:04.520
those kinds of things that we can manage individually

1162
00:50:04.520 --> 00:50:07.440
and make a difference as classrooms,

1163
00:50:07.440 --> 00:50:09.990
as community groups and so forth

1164
00:50:09.990 --> 00:50:13.200
are really important to making our reefs better capable

1165
00:50:13.200 --> 00:50:16.328
of dealing with other threats and other challenges.

1166
00:50:17.320 --> 00:50:18.900
All right.

1167
00:50:18.900 --> 00:50:19.733
<v ->Well said.</v>

1168
00:50:20.820 --> 00:50:24.372
<v ->How does bleaching affect other creatures of the reef,</v>

1169
00:50:24.372 --> 00:50:26.298
like numbers of particular fish,

1170
00:50:26.298 --> 00:50:28.473
microinvertebrates, et cetera?

1171
00:50:29.580 --> 00:50:31.680
<v ->Yeah, oddly enough,</v>

1172
00:50:31.680 --> 00:50:34.533
in the actual bleaching event,

1173
00:50:35.550 --> 00:50:38.397
I wouldn't say there is a direct impact to,

1174
00:50:38.397 --> 00:50:40.777
or at least an observable direct impact

1175
00:50:40.777 --> 00:50:42.540
to some of these creatures.

1176
00:50:42.540 --> 00:50:44.400
But I think the largest impact

1177
00:50:44.400 --> 00:50:47.280
is when bleaching essentially occurs for too long

1178
00:50:47.280 --> 00:50:49.937
and the coral dies and we lose these habitats

1179
00:50:49.937 --> 00:50:52.650
because then all that microfauna can't survive.

1180
00:50:52.650 --> 00:50:55.470
There isn't coral for parrotfish to feed on.

1181
00:50:55.470 --> 00:50:57.976
We're actually losing those environments

1182
00:50:57.976 --> 00:51:00.489
and we're losing that habitat

1183
00:51:00.489 --> 00:51:02.345
for these creatures to live on.

1184
00:51:02.345 --> 00:51:04.920
So while it's maybe not necessarily that exact,

1185
00:51:04.920 --> 00:51:07.080
like in the moment that we're losing fish

1186
00:51:07.080 --> 00:51:08.250
or we're losing this,

1187
00:51:08.250 --> 00:51:10.677
but over time, if corals continues to bleach

1188
00:51:10.677 --> 00:51:12.257
and be able to not survive,

1189
00:51:12.257 --> 00:51:14.262
we're losing habitat for these creatures.

1190
00:51:14.262 --> 00:51:16.498
And so that's where the biggest sort of like loss

1191
00:51:16.498 --> 00:51:18.100
and impact happens.

1192
00:51:19.700 --> 00:51:22.487
<v ->There are a couple of questions in the pile here</v>

1193
00:51:22.487 --> 00:51:24.450
related to depth and bleaching.

1194
00:51:24.450 --> 00:51:28.650
What's the maximum depth we see coral bleaching

1195
00:51:28.650 --> 00:51:31.953
and does it seem to be different at different depths?

1196
00:51:33.308 --> 00:51:35.123
<v ->Yeah, I think that sort of, as</v>

1197
00:51:35.123 --> 00:51:37.040
we kind of touched on before,

1198
00:51:37.040 --> 00:51:40.252
the shallower reefs are definitely much more affected

1199
00:51:40.252 --> 00:51:41.730
than the deeper reefs.

1200
00:51:41.730 --> 00:51:44.890
I don't know if I can say an exact depth

1201
00:51:44.890 --> 00:51:47.610
that the deepest bleaching was observed.

1202
00:51:47.610 --> 00:51:50.278
I don't know if Flower Garden Banks has that,

1203
00:51:50.278 --> 00:51:53.370
as you guys just sort of study your sort of reefs more,

1204
00:51:53.370 --> 00:51:55.650
but (coughs) excuse me.

1205
00:51:55.650 --> 00:51:59.130
But yeah, the water temperature becomes much more

1206
00:51:59.130 --> 00:52:02.735
sort of affected essentially by the atmosphere,

1207
00:52:02.735 --> 00:52:04.340
the shallower you get.

1208
00:52:04.340 --> 00:52:07.020
So it's going to be cooler and more stable

1209
00:52:07.020 --> 00:52:08.551
the deeper you go.

1210
00:52:09.860 --> 00:52:10.985
<v ->Thank you.</v>

1211
00:52:12.440 --> 00:52:14.670
All right, let's see.

1212
00:52:14.670 --> 00:52:17.793
We have time for probably one more question.

1213
00:52:30.120 --> 00:52:33.700
Wow, we've managed to hit most of the

1214
00:52:33.700 --> 00:52:36.180
really high priority ones.

1215
00:52:36.180 --> 00:52:39.000
This one's specific to the Flower Garden Banks.

1216
00:52:39.000 --> 00:52:41.543
How does urbanization affect the Flower Gardens

1217
00:52:41.543 --> 00:52:43.452
and bleaching of the coral reefs?

1218
00:52:43.452 --> 00:52:45.993
And I think we kind of have answered that

1219
00:52:45.993 --> 00:52:48.200
in that because we're so far offshore,

1220
00:52:48.200 --> 00:52:50.392
we are not as affected.

1221
00:52:50.392 --> 00:52:52.320
It's not that we're not affected,

1222
00:52:52.320 --> 00:52:54.750
but it takes a lot more for that influence

1223
00:52:54.750 --> 00:52:56.253
to get that far offshore.

1224
00:52:57.270 --> 00:53:01.260
<v ->Yeah, that's not sort of a isolated pattern.</v>

1225
00:53:01.260 --> 00:53:04.080
Globally, reefs that are more remote

1226
00:53:04.080 --> 00:53:08.460
or more separate from sort of human impact

1227
00:53:08.460 --> 00:53:11.293
are surviving very well.

1228
00:53:11.293 --> 00:53:13.460
So there is sort of that correlation

1229
00:53:13.460 --> 00:53:16.110
of sort of the human impact

1230
00:53:16.110 --> 00:53:18.220
and like I said, a closeness to it

1231
00:53:18.220 --> 00:53:21.090
and sort of how that sort of layered impacts

1232
00:53:21.090 --> 00:53:23.708
really plays into coral reef health.

1233
00:53:25.530 --> 00:53:28.230
<v ->And I think we've got room for one more.</v>

1234
00:53:28.230 --> 00:53:32.037
Can either you or I comment on high temperature effects

1235
00:53:32.037 --> 00:53:35.370
and climate monitoring at the newly added banks

1236
00:53:35.370 --> 00:53:38.703
to Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary?

1237
00:53:39.870 --> 00:53:41.800
<v ->Yeah, I have not been there.</v>

1238
00:53:41.800 --> 00:53:44.400
So I don't know, Kelly, if you have any input.

1239
00:53:44.400 --> 00:53:47.070
<v ->Are there plans for NCRMP to be involved</v>

1240
00:53:47.070 --> 00:53:48.540
in the newer reef areas?

1241
00:53:48.540 --> 00:53:49.770
Do you know?

1242
00:53:49.770 --> 00:53:51.186
<v ->That's my question.</v>

1243
00:53:51.186 --> 00:53:53.550
I don't know at this point in time

1244
00:53:53.550 --> 00:53:57.270
if there is an effort for climate to be expanding there.

1245
00:53:57.270 --> 00:54:00.120
I think it will depend on sort of depth

1246
00:54:00.120 --> 00:54:02.845
and accessibility to those reefs.

1247
00:54:02.845 --> 00:54:03.920
<v ->Okay.</v>

1248
00:54:03.920 --> 00:54:05.756
Well, what I can say is that we

1249
00:54:05.756 --> 00:54:07.620
plan to expand our monitoring

1250
00:54:07.620 --> 00:54:09.587
to all the reefs within the sanctuary.

1251
00:54:09.587 --> 00:54:11.190
It's just gonna take time.

1252
00:54:11.190 --> 00:54:12.750
It's in the plans.

1253
00:54:12.750 --> 00:54:16.048
We just held a big Gulf Reef Symposium last November

1254
00:54:16.048 --> 00:54:18.300
and brought in scientists from all over

1255
00:54:18.300 --> 00:54:21.120
to help us come up with our science goals

1256
00:54:21.120 --> 00:54:22.860
for the next five to 10 years

1257
00:54:22.860 --> 00:54:25.590
and to figure out what it is we need to look at.

1258
00:54:25.590 --> 00:54:28.163
So we know that coral bleaching

1259
00:54:28.163 --> 00:54:31.380
is specifically those symbiotic algae leaving the coral.

1260
00:54:31.380 --> 00:54:33.360
So that is not something that happens at depth

1261
00:54:33.360 --> 00:54:36.000
because there are not those same kinds of symbiotic algae

1262
00:54:36.000 --> 00:54:38.190
in the mesophotic reefs necessarily

1263
00:54:38.190 --> 00:54:40.047
in the Flower Garden Banks.

1264
00:54:40.047 --> 00:54:42.530
There are some, but that's not the majority.

1265
00:54:42.530 --> 00:54:44.820
And so there are probably effects

1266
00:54:44.820 --> 00:54:47.727
from the rising temperatures, but not the same way,

1267
00:54:47.727 --> 00:54:50.100
not in the form of coral bleaching necessarily.

1268
00:54:50.100 --> 00:54:53.340
And so these are all things we're gonna have to figure out

1269
00:54:53.340 --> 00:54:56.680
how to monitor and how to understand

1270
00:54:56.680 --> 00:55:00.220
because those are areas we really are lacking in data

1271
00:55:00.220 --> 00:55:02.370
and we recognize those data gaps

1272
00:55:02.370 --> 00:55:05.880
and we are working on ways with our research partners

1273
00:55:05.880 --> 00:55:08.220
across the country and from around the world

1274
00:55:08.220 --> 00:55:10.920
because the staff at Flower Garden Banks,

1275
00:55:10.920 --> 00:55:12.420
we monitor the reefs,

1276
00:55:12.420 --> 00:55:14.640
but it's other people that actually do the research.

1277
00:55:14.640 --> 00:55:18.390
We provide the permits and sometimes the staff to go with

1278
00:55:18.390 --> 00:55:20.190
and the ship to go out on,

1279
00:55:20.190 --> 00:55:22.162
but a lot of that research takes

1280
00:55:22.162 --> 00:55:23.763
place through other entities

1281
00:55:23.763 --> 00:55:27.150
and so those are things that we are working on.

1282
00:55:27.150 --> 00:55:29.923
But, there's no specific plan in place as yet.

1283
00:55:31.268 --> 00:55:33.450
Well, thank you very much, Nicole.

1284
00:55:33.450 --> 00:55:35.933
We appreciate you being here this evening

1285
00:55:35.933 --> 00:55:39.570
and answering all of these questions about coral bleaching,

1286
00:55:39.570 --> 00:55:42.658
ocean acidification, all the different kinds of monitoring

1287
00:55:42.658 --> 00:55:45.240
you all are doing with the NCRMP program.

1288
00:55:45.240 --> 00:55:48.253
And folks, if you'll hang on for just a few more minutes,

1289
00:55:48.253 --> 00:55:50.180
I'm going to wrap this up here.

1290
00:55:50.180 --> 00:55:52.473
Let me show you my screen again.

1291
00:55:54.000 --> 00:55:56.370
<v ->Thank you so much for having me.</v>

1292
00:55:56.370 --> 00:55:58.680
<v ->Thank you for being here.</v>

1293
00:55:58.680 --> 00:56:00.120
All right, folks,

1294
00:56:00.120 --> 00:56:02.225
thank you for being here yourselves.

1295
00:56:02.225 --> 00:56:05.280
We appreciate you attending our Seaside Chats presentation

1296
00:56:05.280 --> 00:56:07.337
on Climate Monitoring in the Flower Garden Banks

1297
00:56:07.337 --> 00:56:08.460
in the Florida Keys.

1298
00:56:08.460 --> 00:56:10.650
And this is just the first of three presentations

1299
00:56:10.650 --> 00:56:12.330
we're offering this month.

1300
00:56:12.330 --> 00:56:14.945
Please be sure to sign up for the remaining presentations

1301
00:56:14.945 --> 00:56:17.010
on February 21st and the 28th.

1302
00:56:17.010 --> 00:56:20.490
On February 21st, we'll be talking about Fish with Cchips,

1303
00:56:20.490 --> 00:56:22.950
not fish and chips, not something you eat,

1304
00:56:22.950 --> 00:56:24.845
something you watch and follow around

1305
00:56:24.845 --> 00:56:27.300
and that's what allows us to track their movements

1306
00:56:27.300 --> 00:56:29.133
on the reef and what we're learning from that.

1307
00:56:29.133 --> 00:56:32.370
And then on February 28th, we'll be Chasing Microbes

1308
00:56:32.370 --> 00:56:35.580
and trying to understand more about how researchers

1309
00:56:35.580 --> 00:56:38.490
are unraveling the mysteries of coral disease.

1310
00:56:38.490 --> 00:56:41.883
So we hope you'll join us for those two presentations.

1311
00:56:43.140 --> 00:56:46.075
And then we want to let you know that

1312
00:56:46.075 --> 00:56:48.270
with the remaining questions,

1313
00:56:48.270 --> 00:56:50.610
we will attempt to get answers for you

1314
00:56:50.610 --> 00:56:52.440
after the webinar concludes.

1315
00:56:52.440 --> 00:56:54.410
Our staff here at the Flower Garden Banks

1316
00:56:54.410 --> 00:56:55.618
will answer whatever we can,

1317
00:56:55.618 --> 00:56:57.663
we'll pass the rest on to Nicole,

1318
00:56:57.663 --> 00:56:59.970
to the ones that are very specific to her presentation

1319
00:56:59.970 --> 00:57:02.280
and she has said she will help us out with those.

1320
00:57:02.280 --> 00:57:06.510
So hopefully within a week or so of this presentation,

1321
00:57:06.510 --> 00:57:08.760
we will have some answers back out to you.

1322
00:57:08.760 --> 00:57:10.868
And if you'd like to learn more on your own,

1323
00:57:10.868 --> 00:57:13.252
we have also provided a document full of resource links

1324
00:57:13.252 --> 00:57:15.660
in the handout pane of the control panel.

1325
00:57:15.660 --> 00:57:18.960
If you haven't yet downloaded it from the control panel,

1326
00:57:18.960 --> 00:57:22.077
now would be a very good time to do that.

1327
00:57:22.077 --> 00:57:25.287
And as always, we welcome your feedback and questions.

1328
00:57:25.287 --> 00:57:28.380
You can submit input by replying to the follow-up email

1329
00:57:28.380 --> 00:57:30.335
you'll receive after the webinar

1330
00:57:30.335 --> 00:57:34.660
or by emailing us directly at flowergarden@noaa.gov.

1331
00:57:37.450 --> 00:57:39.753
Today's presentation has also been part

1332
00:57:39.753 --> 00:57:42.630
of the National Marine Sanctuaries webinar series.

1333
00:57:42.630 --> 00:57:45.300
And while Seaside Chats last just one month,

1334
00:57:45.300 --> 00:57:48.580
our national webinar series continues throughout the year

1335
00:57:48.580 --> 00:57:51.750
to provide you with educational and scientific expertise,

1336
00:57:51.750 --> 00:57:53.888
resources and training to support

1337
00:57:53.888 --> 00:57:55.482
ocean and climate literacy.

1338
00:57:55.482 --> 00:57:59.030
Be sure to check the website for recordings of past webinars

1339
00:57:59.030 --> 00:58:01.080
and the schedule of what's to come.

1340
00:58:01.080 --> 00:58:02.250
You don't have to write down

1341
00:58:02.250 --> 00:58:03.723
what you're seeing on your screen right now.

1342
00:58:03.723 --> 00:58:05.820
It's on that handout that I just told you about.

1343
00:58:05.820 --> 00:58:08.087
And as a reminder, we will share the recording

1344
00:58:08.087 --> 00:58:10.050
of this webinar via our website

1345
00:58:10.050 --> 00:58:12.843
as well as the National Marine Sanctuaries website,

1346
00:58:12.843 --> 00:58:15.242
where they have the whole webinar series.

1347
00:58:15.242 --> 00:58:17.640
You can go back and watch whatever presentations

1348
00:58:17.640 --> 00:58:19.680
you'd like and missed before.

1349
00:58:19.680 --> 00:58:21.210
Following this webinar,

1350
00:58:21.210 --> 00:58:23.340
attendees will also receive a PDF copy

1351
00:58:23.340 --> 00:58:25.290
of a certificate of attendance.

1352
00:58:25.290 --> 00:58:27.330
This provides documentation for one hour

1353
00:58:27.330 --> 00:58:30.660
of professional development for today's presentation.

1354
00:58:30.660 --> 00:58:33.750
This document includes our Texas CPE provider number

1355
00:58:33.750 --> 00:58:36.330
for those of you who are Texas educators.

1356
00:58:36.330 --> 00:58:38.970
And if you are an educator outside of Texas,

1357
00:58:38.970 --> 00:58:40.600
please use this certificate

1358
00:58:40.600 --> 00:58:43.110
to help get your hours approved in your district.

1359
00:58:43.110 --> 00:58:45.328
If you require additional information,

1360
00:58:45.328 --> 00:58:48.362
please contact me at flowergarden@noaa.gov.

1361
00:58:48.362 --> 00:58:50.610
There will also be a short evaluation

1362
00:58:50.610 --> 00:58:51.950
following today's presentation

1363
00:58:51.950 --> 00:58:54.660
that should only take about three minutes to complete.

1364
00:58:54.660 --> 00:58:56.968
And we'd greatly appreciate any feedback

1365
00:58:56.968 --> 00:58:58.542
you are willing to share.

1366
00:59:00.720 --> 00:59:04.830
And that, my friends, concludes today's Seaside Chat.

1367
00:59:04.830 --> 00:59:06.500
Thank you for joining us.