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PacIOOS Tools and Instruments
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The redeployed wave buoy off Ritidian Point, Guam. Credit: Michael Genereux. |
Wave Buoy off Ritidian Point Redeployed
The PacIOOS wave buoy located to the north of Guam, off Ritidian Point, broke free at the end of last year during a storm with maximum waves heights of 34ft. Due to persistently rough ocean and weather conditions, followed by COVID-19 related travel restrictions, PacIOOS staff was unable to redeploy the wave buoy earlier this year. Many thanks to our local partners Michael Genereux, Bret Cornelius, and Barnaby Afaje from Gen-X Sports who had assisted with previous deployments and successfully deployed the Ritidian Point wave buoy for us. The wave buoy now continues to provide real-time information on wave height, direction, and period, as well as sea surface temperature. The Ritidian Point wave buoy is one of three PacIOOS buoys in the Mariana Islands, along with the Ipan wave buoy to the east of Guam, and Tanapag, to the west of Saipan in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
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Coral heads at Ant Atoll, Federated States of Micronesia. Credit: Jason Biggs.
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Still Accepting Input for 5-year Proposal
Mahalo to all of our partners, users, and stakeholders who have already provided valuable ideas and input for the upcoming PacIOOS 5-year proposal and a 10-year Outlook. We continue to receive great suggestions from all over the U.S. Pacific Islands region and we are already looking forward to exploring your recommendations in more detail. If you haven't had a chance yet to provide input, we have extended the deadline to July 15, 2020. This is a great opportunity for you to weigh in and share your thoughts on coastal and ocean observing needs, priorities, and potential collaborations in the U.S. Pacific Islands region. Please submit your ideas through this quick survey. For more information on our Strategic Framework and existing thematic areas, please check out this link.
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PacIOOS is excited to welcome the Association of Pacific Island Legislatures (APIL) as a new regional Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) partner. APIL is working together on matters where regional cooperation, coordination, exchange and assistance may help governments achieve their goals through collective action. APIL is comprised of legislative representatives from 12 island governments, including American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, Guam, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) State of Chuuk, FSM State of Kosrae, FSM State of Pohnpei, FSM State of Yap, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Republic of Palau, State of Hawaiʻi, Republic of Nauru, and Republic of Kiribati. PacIOOS is looking forward to exploring synergies and future collaborations with APIL.
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Coral bleaching alert area 7-day maximum are now accessible through PacIOOS Voyager. |
Updates to NOAA's Coral Reef Watch Products
PacIOOS implemented the most recent updates of NOAA's Coral Reef Watch (CRW) products, Version 3.1. on PacIOOS Voyager, TDS, and ERDDAP. Specifically, changes in the underlying netCDF data files needed to be made to the NOAA/NESDIS operational products. The suite of operational global satellite coral bleaching heat stress monitoring products have a 5-km resolution and are produced daily in near real-time. It includes data sets of sea surface temperature (SST), SST anomaly, coral bleaching alert areas, coral bleaching hot spots, and degree heating weeks. In addition to the coral bleaching alert areas, the coral bleaching alert area 7-day maximum has been added.
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Mark Royer with his advisor Kim Holland after Mark's successful Ph.D. defense. |
Congratulations to Dr. Mark Royer, who successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation under the supervision of Dr. Kim Holland, Research Professor at the Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) and PacIOOS co-investigator. Mark's research focused on the thermoregulation and behavior of scalloped hammerhead and bluntnose sixgill sharks. Through a novel package of telemetry devices, Mark's findings revealed that--by holding their breath--scalloped hammerhead sharks stay warm and maintain their body temperature while they dive deep into cold waters, to a depth of 800m.
With an undergraduate degree in Marine Biology, Mark joined the HIMB Shark Research Group in 2011 as a Master's student and has supported the group's efforts as a Graduate Research Assistant since. He greatly contributed to the
tiger shark movement study on Maui and Oʻahu over the last several years, and has been involved in the ongoing project to tag "
Sharks as Oceanographers." Holding his breath, Mark is an
avid free dive underwater photographer and has captured research with a talented eye for the beauty of sharks and other marine wildlife. When not behind the camera, you can find him open-water swimming. In
2015, Mark and his brother even crossed the Kaʻiwi channel in a
16-hour
swim relay.
Mahalo, Mark, for all your contributions over the years -- we wish you all the best and are excited to follow your future research endeavors.
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