Marine Mammals

Expanding the use of seasonal to interannual climate forecasts, especially in drought-prone and semi-arid parts of the United States, can assist decision makers in the management of water resources, according to a new NOAA-led scientific assessment. The assessment is one in a series of synthesis and assessment reports coordinated by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program.

A joint undercover operation by NOAA's Fisheries Service Office of Law Enforcement and New York and New Jersey enforcement agents has uncovered evidence of alleged illegal fishing by two charter operators. The operators, Steven N. Forsberg and Viking Starship Inc. of Montauk, N.Y., and Jerome E. Hurd of Avalon, N.J., have been charged by NOAA with taking their patrons to catch striped bass in federal waters, where capture of the prized sport fish is prohibited.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez today determined that the economic effects of closing some shellfish fisheries due to a harmful algal bloom, commonly referred to as a red tide, in ocean waters off Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine has caused a commercial fishery failure.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez today determined that there has been a commercial fishery failure due to a continued fisheries resource disaster in the sockeye salmon fisheries in Puget Sound and the northern Pacific coast of Washington.

Officials from NOAA and Environment Canada announce a partnership to share weather and climate data, using high-tech monitoring stations located in their respective countries. The effort will improve the accuracy of each country’s data and give scientists a clearer, more accurate picture about climate change in North America.

A new NOAA-led assessment of the global ozone layer says the U.S. has reduced by 97-98 percent the production of ozone damaging substances since the late 1980s. The assessment is one in a series of synthesis and assessment reports coordinated by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program.

A new NOAA report on the health of Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary indicates that the sanctuary’s marine life and habitats are in good overall condition but face emerging threats from potential oil spills, invasive species, commercial development, climate change and underwater noise pollution.

NOAA announced today that it is improving procedures to manage equipment containing low-risk sensitive materials at its Earth Systems Research Lab in Boulder, Colo. and will incorporate recommendations from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

NOAA's Fisheries Service advises all mariners and fishermen to keep a sharp look out for North Atlantic right whales in southeast U.S. waters from Nov. 15 through April 15. Each year, pregnant female North Atlantic right whales migrate southward more than 1,000 miles from their feeding area off Canada and New England to the warm, calm coastal waters off South Carolina, Georgia, and northeastern Florida to give birth and nurse their young. These waters are the only known calving area for the species.

NOAA's Fisheries Service advises all mariners and fishermen to keep a sharp look out for North Atlantic right whales in southeast U.S. waters from Nov. 15 through April 15. Each year, pregnant female North Atlantic right whales migrate southward more than 1,000 miles from their feeding area off Canada and New England to the warm, calm coastal waters off South Carolina, Georgia, and northeastern Florida to give birth and nurse their young. These waters are the only known calving area for the species.

Venkatachalam Ramaswamy of Lawrenceville, N.J., has been named director of the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton, N.J. GFDL develops prediction models, as well as conducts climate research. Ramaswamy is a NOAA scientist whose work has focused on natural and human influences on climate.

Check with NOAA's National Hurricane Center for the latest forecast for Paloma in the Caribbean.

October 2008 temperature and precipitation were near the long-term average for the contiguous United States, according to an analysis by NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C., based on records dating back to 1895.