News from Across the American Shoreline

HONOLULU (KHON2) — A team of ocean wildlife officials removed about 2,000 feet of heavy gauge line from an adult humpback whale who was last tracked to be around Kauai on Wednesday, Jan. 19.

Congressional transportation policymakers recently announced plans to kick off consideration of legislation aimed at improving the country’s transportation waterways.

(AP) - The Biden administration on Wednesday announced the release of $14 billion to the Army Corps of Engineers to fund 500 projects, with a focus on easing supply chain problems and addressing climate change.

$100 million is designated for studies of proposed projects in the four states where major disasters were declared in FY 2021 due to Hurricane Ida.

WASHINGTON – The Times Beach Nature Preserve, a 55-acre site on Buffalo's Outer Harbor that has been battered into disuse by frequent storms in recent years, will be restored thanks to one of the first local outlays from last year's $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal.

Largest single investment ever to restore & revitalize Everglades, White House says

On November 15, 2021, Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act providing $17.1 billion for the Corps of Engineers.

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – Over $2.5 billion is coming from the federal government to fund flooding and hurricane protection projects across the state. This is on top of the one billion recently announced for bridge repairs.

Through Feb. 24, 2022, the draft management plan and draft environmental assessment are available for download, review, and public comment. See details below for document access, public meeting information, and instructions on commenting.

Want to understand climate change, look in the water. Fish don't read and are not members of political parties or advocacy groups. Conditions are changing and so are fish populations.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management made minor boundary adjustments in its New York Bight wind lease areas to reduce conflicts with the scallop fleet. That’s just a small start toward reducing the impact of wind development on the nation’s seafood industry, New Bedford port officials say.

Louisiana’s fisheries and seafood businesses experienced approximately $580 million in total losses resulting from four hurricane between August 2020 to August 2021, according to a new report by the Louisiana Sea Grant and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

Without a doubt, the UK housing market had one of its hottest years in 2021. Stimulated by the Stamp Duty holiday, the market turned into somewhat of a frenzy. This year is likely to be a more normal one for the housing market, but strong buyer demand is set to carry over into 2022.

"We're spending a whole lot of money here on projects in a reactive way."

SARASOTA, Fla. (WFLA) – Residents on Siesta Key want better representation of their barrier island. Over the last several months, there’s been a momentous push to break away from the county and incorporate.

Reprinted from Outer Banks Voice - After six months of meetings, a subcommittee of the N.C. 12 Task Force has reached a consensus on what areas of the vulnerable road that connects Ocracoke and Hatteras with the northern Outer Banks should be the top priorities for keeping the transportation link open.

Former Palm Beach Post reporter calls it an 'us versus them' mentality

Heat waves—like the one that blistered the Pacific Northwest last June—also occur underwater. A new study in Frontiers in Marine Science paints a worrisome picture of recent and projected trends in marine heat waves within the nation's largest estuary, with dire implications for the marine life and coastal economy of the Chesapeake Bay and other similarly impacted shallow-water ecosystems.

The Crown Estate is partnering with a range of UK-wide expert bodies to launch three significant research projects that will help to enable the coexistence of offshore wind farms with a thriving marine environment.

The three-year programme will seed and support new and existing underwater seagrass meadows, which if restored to a sufficient scale can contribute to the UK’s carbon emission targets

Researchers in Kenya are developing a special barcoding technology method in order to achieve a challenging and urgent goal: protecting aquatic life.

California Governor Gavin Newsom's state budget plan was released Monday, and its $286 billion top line figure includes an unexpectedly generous line item for shipping.

On January 18, 2022, federal, state, and local officials gathered to mark the signing of a Project Partnering Agreement for the Morganza to the Gulf of Mexico project that was executed on December 28, 2021 to kick-off federal-led construction for the project.

San Clemente, Calif., January 18, 2022 – The Surfrider Foundation, the largest grassroots organization focused on coastal and ocean conservation, announces the addition of Zach Plopper, a conservation expert and former professional surfer, as its new Environmental Director.

The USDA has awarded The Oregon Coast Visitors Association $735,200 for a grant entitled, Capturing Value by Keeping Local Seafood Local.

For the past two decades, the world has witnessed some level of significant industrial and technological revolution. opined that this revolution, despite its acclaimed benefits to humanity has resulted in a worrisome level of interaction with our environment.

The UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) is launching a new challenge in collaboration with Geovation – a start-up accelerator programme and initiative of Ordnance Survey (OS), the national mapping agency for Great Britain - to find a sustainable solution to diffuse coastal pollution.

Confining horseshoe crabs to manmade ponds robs threatened shorebirds of critical food source

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center says tsunami wave heights across the state are now below advisory levels and are continuing to diminish.

Piping plover. Atlantic sturgeon. American shad. Red knot. Horseshoe crab. Bog turtle. These are just some of the thousands of depleting species in this region that conservationists are working to preserve.

Wellington has gained global recognition and US$1 million in prize money as one of 15 cities worldwide to win the Bloomberg Mayors Challenge.

A leading charity has expressed concerns about the potentially devastating impact of ScotWind on Scotland's seabirds.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District have partnered with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources to use reclaimed dredge material from the Altamaha River to create a new bird island this month.

As more frequent and more severe storms erode coastlines, mapmakers must adapt quickly.

In this online feature, Jillian Morris-Brake, a marine biologist, shark conservationist, photographer, author and the founder of Sharks4Kids, talks about her experience diving with the magnificent great hammerhead shark in The Bahamas.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has sought for wider participation of relevant stakeholders in the blue economy project to deepen participation and benefits of Nigerians from the country’s marine resources.

The Arctic is changing, and it’s changing fast. So far, we are still in the process of learning about these changes, which may be environmental, technological, and social in nature.

A regional climate pact among Northeast states faces increasing uncertainty as two of its most recent additions are already mulling whether to get out.

Satellite imagery suggests the eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai could cause long-lasting environmental damage.

Marine conservation is central to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals 13 (climate action) and 14 (life below water). Portugal has now created the largest marine reserve with full protection in Europe and the North Atlantic, an achievement that other nations could follow.

Deep-sea mining, coastal wetland protection, and wildlife DNA analysis among issues likely to have global impact

Congressional Democrats are trying to build one for the nation. They should check out California, which has already successfully rolled one out at the state level.

On January 5, 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a draft Environmental Justice Action Plan. The Action Plan outlines measures that have been or will be implemented by EPA's Office of Land and Emergency Management (OLEM) to address environmental justice (EJ) concerns in OLEM programs, including Superfund, emergency response, and risk management.

Building the capacity to withstand and recover from storms is essential to the effective operation of any waterside facility. Whether it’s a publicly owned harbor connected to miles of shoreline or a small, private marina with several hundred feet of frontage, proactive protection measures for both water-based and landside facilities are critical for minimizing damage, maintaining emergency access and egress, and reopening as quickly as possible after a storm event.

The use of seabed mapping data adds billions to the economy, yet only 25% of Australia’s seabed is fully mapped.

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) announced that it has finalized contracts with BP and Equinor for the Empire Wind 2 and Beacon Wind 1 offshore wind farms.

The International Chamber of Shipping has announced a strategic partnership with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) to further support for the decarbonization of the shipping industry and its role in advancing the global energy transition to renewables.

NOAA has banned all Mexican fishing vessels that operate in the Gulf of Mexico from calling at U.S. ports, effective February 7.

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- A dredge, appropriately named Dredge Charleston, a daily crew of 53 workers, and heavy earthmoving equipment worked 24 hours a day for seven weeks constructing a landmark legacy of the Charleston Harbor Post 45 Deepening project: the restoration of Crab Bank.

Coral on the Great Barrier Reef is showing early signs of bleaching, which has experts concerned as the Sunshine State is staring down the barrel of a long, hot summer.

Tsunami experts theorize that shock waves produced after a massive underwater volcanic eruption near Tonga on Jan. 15 caused the higher tidal levels seen along Japan's Pacific coastline.

(Nova Scotia) - The Province is investing $37.3 million from the Green Fund in projects that support the goals of the Environmental Goals and Climate Change Reduction Act and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Scotland’s government is looking forward to pocketing bidding fees of around £680 million from ScotWind, the nation’s first round of offshore plot leasing for a decade, and its first since control of awards were devolved to Holyrood.

In June 2016, massive cyanobacterial blooms occurred in the St. Lucie River in Florida, caused by nutrient and cyanobacterial-laden water releases from Lake Okeechobee. We independently collected and analyzed bloom material for cyanotoxin diversity and concentrations.

Dirigo, indeed. Base our future on human ecology, not ‘nostalgia and empty tradition.’

It’s encouraging to see the candidates for governor paying attention to the work of the Coastal Resources Management Council Study Commission and voicing concern about the CRMC. The future of the CRMC should be an issue discussed in the 2022 gubernatorial race.

BOSTON — The biggest container ship ever to call on the Port of Boston arrived in the harbor Sunday morning.

The 17-year-old Gulf sturgeon was discovered 200 miles upstream from the Gulf of Mexico

Save the Bay, the state’s leading environmental advocacy organization, is blasting state leaders for their slashing of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management’s (RI DEM) staff — especially inspectors and enforcement officers.

Corals in the Gulf of Aqaba have a unique evolutionary history that could help them survive the climate crisis. Scientists even hope to breed their resilience into other reefs.

Using artificial intelligence and machine learning, LSU professor Hartmut Kaiser is joining up with a team of scientists to help communities near the coast better prepare for flooding.

Southeast’s seaweed and shellfish industry is in line to receive a boost from the federal government. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Thursday it would provide $500,000 in funding to draw up plans for a new mariculture processing facility on Prince of Wales Island. Producers and processors are welcoming the news.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Galveston District will hold three virtual public information sessions open to the public January 18-20 for the Freeport Project, part of the Sabine Pass to Galveston Bay (S2G) program.

When Chris Rogers returned to the NSW Central Coast after a stint living overseas, he was eager to embrace the quintessential Australian lifestyle — a home where his kids could swim in the ocean whenever they liked and he could walk along the beach he loves every day.

The Florida Legislature has had a tough time maneuvering through the politics of clean water to effectively curb pollution and protect public health.

Expanded scheme welcomed, but still can't compare with Test & Go

It goes without saying that New York City, built on a cluster of low-lying islands, will need to be reimagined and rebuilt in order to survive the climate crisis.

Tŝilhqot’in Nation tribal chair Joe Alphonse is demanding a seat at the Canada-U.S. bilateral negotiations to address Alaskan fishers intercepting salmon headed for B.C. rivers

The crane gently deposits the small white and yellow ‘rover’ mounted on the larvae at the bottom of a test tank at the Evermer Center in La Seine-sur-Mer (Var). On their screens, engineers and scientists check the operation of BathyBot cameras, which will soon be the world’s first permanently mounted underwater vehicle at 2,500 metres, to unravel the mysteries of the cliff.

Tonga's underwater explosion triggered a big mess of gas and exploding debris

HOUSTON, Texas -- Three years after work began on projects outlined in the Harris County Flood Control District's $2.5 billion bond program, Deputy Executive Director Matt Zeve said 2022 may be the district's biggest spending year in its history.

Giving up land to the sea needs to be one of the options considered for responding to serious erosion events along our coastline, says a University of the Sunshine Coast researcher.

NOAA, William & Mary researchers team with TACC to develop, test first-ever 3D compound inland-coastal flooding guidance system

The 2021 Hawaii Marine Debris Action Plan has been announced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Marine Debris Program (MDP).

New rules are coming for the lobster Industry. Will they save the right whale?

Could our understanding of the deep ocean help unlock the mysteries of outer space? Nasa's space mission is leading us to unexplored depths of our own planet.

Nearly all annual blooms of the red tide-forming, toxic dinoflagellate Karenia brevis (K. brevis) pose a serious threat to coastal Southwest Florida. New research developed methods to analyze over 60 years of data of K.brevis cell counts, or concentrations, along the coast of SW Florida to define bloom severity metrics, annual and interannual bloom cycles, and associated respiratory irritation.

The Amazonian rainforest is being deforested at the rate of 10,000 acres a day. Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has lost 50% of its coral since 1995. Another sign of the global climate crisis, however, is hiding in plain sight along the Massachusetts coastline: the sharp decline of a seagrass called eelgrass.

An Earth-changing development took place in New York City in 1907 when plastic was first synthesized. It had all the right properties for a huge range of uses, including lightweight, flexible, strong, moisture resistant, relatively inexpensive, and a quality that has plagued us ever since, durability.

A small group of affluent landowners, who bought houses on an erosion-scarred stretch of beach, have won a battle that could have reverberations for other oceanfront residents fighting rising sea levels that threaten their investments.

Shankhumukham beach — the popular tourist spot — continues to be in ruins with the authorities turning a blind eye.

HARTFORD — More than 52,000 acres of estuaries along the lower Connecticut and Thames rivers have been designated as a National Estuarine Research Reserve, the first in the state, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The Gulf Shellfish Institute seeks to raise $22.5 million through its All Clams on Deck initiative.

The 3rd of October, 2020, was a momentous day for Venetians. A high tide had been predicted, which would normally have seen low-lying areas of the city under several inches of water. On this day, however, the streets remained miraculously

TOKYO, Japan, January 15, 2022 (ENS) – Much has changed since the early days of oceanic bathymetry, the study of the seafloor, when simple soundings were taken by hand with a rope and weight.

Groton — The town soon will begin a project to develop a plan to help make downtown Mystic more resilient to sea-level rise and climate change. The town anticipates sea levels to rise 20 inches by 2050.

With plans for more and more wind turbines off New Jersey’s coastline, the advocacy group Clean Ocean Action believes things to be moving too quickly and at far too large a scale. This week, the organization raised concerns about the potential impact on wildlife, especially on dolphins and whales.

Project Partners and Congressional Delegation Members Applaud Designation of “Living Laboratory” That Will Protect Habitat and Provide Expanded Research, Education, and Stewardship Opportunities

Cape St. Claire is forging ahead this month on two long-awaited projects to help alleviate beach erosion, stop water from pooling in streets, and provide habitat for wildlife.

COLUMBIA — The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control decided Thursday night that DeBourdieu Colony homeowners can keep the sandbags they put on an eroding beach without state permission.

(National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science) - The Mississippi River Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force, otherwise known as the Hypoxia Task Force (HTF), held a virtual fall meeting from December 13- 14, 2021.

The world witnessed record-breaking climate and weather disasters in 2021, from destructive flash floods that swept through mountain towns in Europe and inundated subway systems in China and the U.S., to heat waves and wildfires.

The city of San Diego Tuesday released an updated proposal for the redevelopment of De Anza Cove in the northeastern corner of Mission Bay Park, and asked San Diegans to weigh in on the plan.

As the seas rise because of climate change, 70% of all sandy shorelines on Oahu, Maui and Kauai are chronically eroding. Thirteen miles of their beaches have already been lost to erosion in the past century.

During its Jan. 11 meeting, the Carlsbad City Council approved a resolution opposing the City of Oceanside’s plan to construct four groins and a sand bypass system designed to minimize sand loss at the city’s beaches.

On the surface, the future of the Chesapeake Bay appears about as murky and dark as deep water. The latest report released last week by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation observes that it’s unlikely that pollution limits agreed to by watershed states and supervised by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are going to be met by a 2025 deadline.

New research from LSU and the University of Florida suggests that more shark attacks occur during fuller phases of the moon. While the exact cause remains unclear, the researchers found that more shark attacks than average occur during periods of higher lunar illumination and fewer attacks than average occur during periods of lower illumination.

As climate change warms the oceans, one of its sturdiest predators, the tiger shark, is moving north.

We commend the California Coastal Commission for seeing through the fog of misinformation, distinguishing it from science-based fact, and approving a United States Fish and Wildlife Service plan to remove invasive house mice from the Farallon Islands.

Decision will be appealed again by oil and gas companies