The monitoring projects in the following inventory take place in or around Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. Projects are conducted by either Sanctuary staff or by our partners. Summary information is presented for each.
For more information about the monitoring activities at Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary, please click here, and review the Sanctuary Condition Report. In addition, information about the monitoring projects taking place in or around the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary is also accessible through the Sanctuary Integrated Monitoring Network (SIMoN) program. SIMoN is a powerful tool that allows users to quickly access summary metadata information on hundreds of on-going, recently completed and historic monitoring and research projects taking place within sanctuaries.
Bodega Marine Laboratory (University of California, Davis)
Objective
Buoy provides data for water temperature, salinity, turbidity, and chlorophyll-a fluorescence; data are linked with regional coastal ocean observing systems.
Method
Data are collected via instrumentation attached to buoy; data from instrumentation are physically downloaded quarterly.
Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary, West Coast Regional Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, Central and Northern California Ocean Observing System, NOAA Integrated Ocean Observing System Program Office
Keyword(s)
Water temperature, conductivity, salinity, chlorophyll fluorescence, turbidity
Coastal Data Information Program (CDIP) Wave Rider Buoy 029 (Point Reyes, CA - South Cordell Bank, NDBC identifier 46214)
Lead
Scripps Institute of Oceanography
Objective
Measures and archives wave climatology (direction and energy) and water temperature of coastal waters.
NOAA National Data Buoy Center, Central and Northern California Ocean Observing System, US Army Corp of Engineers, California Department of Boating and Waterways
Keyword(s)
Water temperature, wave energy, wave direction
National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) - Station 46013
Lead
NOAA National Data Buoy Center
Objective
Measure and archive wind and wave climatology (direction and energy) and water temperature of coastal waters.
Method
Data collected via instrumentation attached to a three-meter discus buoy located in Bodega Bay, 48 nautical miles north-northwest of San Francisco, California.
NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory Carbon Group
Objective
Conduct large-scale coastal surveys of pCO2 and related water column chemical and hydrographic measurements to determine the spatial scales of CO2 sources and sinks.
Method
Water samples collected from conductivity, temperature, and depth (CTD) stations situated along transect lines extending from Canada to Mexico.
Monitor seabirds, marine mammals, krill, and physical oceanographic conditions in the Cordell Bank pelagic ecosystem.
Method
Visual observations for seabirds and marine mammals, scientific echo-sounder for zooplankton, conductivity, temperature, and depth sensor (CTD) and thermosalinograph (TSG) for oceanographic conditions, and phytoplankton sample collected for biotoxin monitoring.
seabirds, marine mammals, physical oceanography zooplankton, water quality
Applied California Current Ecosystem Studies (ACCESS; formerly PRBO surveys)
Lead
Dr. Jaime Jahncke (Point Blue Conservation Science), Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary, Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary
Objective
Support marine wildlife conservation and healthy marine ecosystems in northern and central California by conducting ocean research to inform resource managers, policy makers and conservation partners.
Method
Data collected via visual observations for birds and marine mammals; hoop net, Tucker trawl, and scientific echo-sounder for zooplankton; conductivity, temperature, and depth sensor (CTD) and underway thermosalinograph (TSG) for oceanographic conditions. Phytoplankton samples collected for biotoxin monitoring. Data also collected on floating marine debris and vessels.
NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary
Keyword(s)
cetaceans, fish
Tracking Black-footed Albatross
Lead
Oikonos Ecosystem Knowledge
Objective
Use satellite tracking to explore the post-breeding movements and ocean habitats of Black- footed Albatross, attempt to characterize albatross movement corridors and foraging grounds, and quantify overlap with management jurisdictions and long-line fisheries.
Method
Post-breeding birds were tagged in National Marine Sanctuaries off of central California during summer and fall; tagged birds were tracked via satellite.
Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, Oikonos partners
Keyword(s)
Black-footed Albatross, marine birds, tracking
Tagging of Pacific Pelagics (TOPP)
Lead
NOAA's Pacific Fisheries Ecosystems Lab, Stanford's Hopkins Marine Lab, and University of California, Santa Cruz's Long Marine Laboratory
Objective
Tagging and tracking North Pacific predators to learn how they use the ocean environment. Species include elephant seals, white sharks, leatherback turtles, squid, albatross and sooty shearwaters.
Method
Archival tags, Pop-up archival tags, Smart Position or Temperature Transmitting Tag (SPOT), and Satellite Relay Data Logger (SRDL)
Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) - Spatial Ecological Analyses of Megavertebrate Populations (SEAMAP)
Lead
Andrew Read, Patrick Halpin (Duke University)
Objective
Spatially referenced online database, aggregating marine mammal, seabird and sea turtle observation data from around the world.
Method
Varies by principal investigator; data-collection methods include visual line-transect surveys, visual strip surveys, molecular techniques, and digital photography.
NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Fishery Resource Analysis and Monitoring (FRAM) Division
Objective
Assess the distribution, abundance and biological characteristics of commercially important fish species, particularly sablefish, and many of the shelf and slope rockfish species.
Groundfish, population abundance, commercial fisheries
Pacific Hake Survey
Lead
NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Fishery Resource Analysis and Monitoring (FRAM) Division
Objective
Assess the distribution, abundance and biological characteristics of commercially important mid-water fish species using trawls and acoustics, particularly pacific hake and sardines.
Integrated Ecosystem Survey (formally known as Rockfish Recruitment Survey)
Lead
NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Fisheries Ecology Division
Objective
Survey distribution and abundance of pelagic juvenile young-of-the-year (YOY) rockfishes. The survey extends from San Diego in the south to the northern boundary at Point Delgada, just south of Cape Mendocino.
Method
Mid-water trawl and conductivity, temperature, and depth sensor (CTD)
Rikk Kvitek (California State University, Monterey Bay)
Objective
Collected high resolution (3m) multi-beam data for the extent of Cordell Bank. The Seafloor Mapping Lab (SFML), within the Division of Science and Environmental Policy at California State University Monterey Bay, specializes in high-resolution acoustic remote sensing for coastal habitats.
Central California Habitat Characterization and Monitoring
Lead
Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary, Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, and Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
Objective
(1) Map the seafloor in three West Coast national marine sanctuaries: MBNMS, CBNMS, and GFNMS, (2) Ground-truth habitat maps in MBNMS and CBNMS, (3) Characterize habitats and associated benthic macro-invertebrates and fish assemblages in MBNMS and CBNMS, and (4) make mapping information available to the public.
Method
Seafloor mapping data collected via side-scan sonar; habitat mapping and characterization data collected via towed camera sled.
USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program, University of Colorado
Objective
Gather diverse geologic data about the continental shelf and organize it through a GIS database know as usSEABED. The database provides unprecedented coverage of the sediment and rock types sampled from the seafloor as well as a searchable catalog of other observations, such as micro and macro flora and fauna and sedimentary structures.
Method
Sediment grab samples, specific protocols per investigator requirements
Trawling Impacts to Soft-Sediment Habitats and Communities
Lead
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
Objective
Quantify the recovery of seafloor microhabitats and associated benthic fauna along the central California coast following the cessation of fishing with mobile bottom fishing gear (e.g., otter trawls). Cordell Bank site represented a closure area due to essential fish habitat closure regulations.
Method
Remotely operated vehicle surveys conducted in 2006
National Centers for Coastal and Ocean Science, Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary
Keyword(s)
Invertebrates, fishing impacts, recovery
Cordell Bank Benthic Community Characterization and Monitoring
Lead
Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary
Objective
Conduct a long-term study to classify habitats and monitor fishes and macro-invertebrates on and around Cordell Bank; additionally, provide data on lost fishing gear abundance and distribution on Cordell Bank.
Method
Visual observations along benthic transects from occupied research submersible
