A new Ocean Acidification monitoring buoy was deployed on April 5, 2018 in the largest United States estuary, the Chesapeake Bay. This is the first long-term ocean acidification monitoring buoy and it will be deployed at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. The buoy will measure carbon parameters in the estuary, which is particularly vulnerable to changes in carbonate chemistry. These changes could impact economically valuable resources for Bay communities, such as oysters. The data from this buoy will supply models with the information needed to recognize potential areas of vulnerability and what future chemical parameters may look like in the bay, while also expanding the National Ocean Acidification Observing Network. It will also help researchers at NOAA PMEL, University of Delaware and University of Maryland differentiate between human-caused and natural variations in carbonate chemistry in the estuary.

Dr. Nina Bednarsek has been awarded the biennial SeaDoc Society's’ Salish Sea Science Prize for her groundbreaking work on the impacts of ocean acidification on pteropods, planktonic marine snails, as well as enhancing policy and regulatory processes along the US West Coast. Dr. Bednarsek was an NRC postdoctoral research fellow with NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) from 2012 - 2015 where she worked with the Carbon Program. Dr. Bednarsek’s research with PMEL has found that the highest impacts on pteropods from ocean acidification is observed in the Salish Sea. Her results show that live pteropod shells undergo dissolution at aragonite saturation state values <1, which is commonly found in subsurface Salish Sea waters and along the Washington coast during the upwelling season. 

 A virtual space to:

Engage with regional and topical teams
Address challenges with others in your field
Share resources and information on ocean acidification
Facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration
Follow the latest conferences, workshop, and webinars