Why you should care about estuaries

Estuaries are incredibly diverse and productive ecosystems. Learn more and then help spread the word about why estuaries matter. For example, estuaries:

• Are vital temporary homes for migratory species, such as mallards and striped bass.
• Provide critical nesting and feeding habitat for a variety of aquatic plants and animals, including shrimp, oysters, and other commercial seafood.
• Help prevent coastal erosion.
• Filter harmful pollutants washing off the land.
• Reduce flooding during storms.
• Are important recreational and tourist destinations.
• Are crucial to our future and the health of the ocean.

You and your family and friends can take a personal stake in looking out for the health and well-being of estuaries by doing these simple things to protect these fragile ecosystems.

How We Are Protecting and Restoring Estuaries

Take a closer look at some of our work on marine pollution in these important estuaries.

Chesapeake Bay: NOAA has been working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Defense on cleaning up and restoring a number of contaminated military facilities around the Chesapeake Bay. Because these Superfund sites are on federal property, we had to take a slightly different approach than usual and tried to work restoration principles into the cleanup process as early as possible.

Delaware Bay: Our office has responded to a number of oil spills in and adjacent to Delaware Bay, including the Athos I oil spill on the Delaware River in 2004. As a result, we are working on implementing several restoration projects around the Delaware Bay, which range from creating oyster reefs to restoring marshes, meadows, and grasslands.

Puget Sound: For Commencement Bay, many of the waterways leading into it—which provide habitat for salmon, steelhead, and other fish—have been polluted by industrial and commercial activities in this harbor from Tacoma, Washington. NOAA and other federal, state, and tribal partners have been working for decades to address the contamination and restore damaged habitat.

Further north in Puget Sound, NOAA and our partners have worked with the airplane manufacturer Boeing to restore habitat for fish, shorebirds, and wildlife harmed by historical industrial activities on the Lower Duwamish River, a heavily used urban river in Seattle. Young Puget Sound Chinook salmon and Steelhead have to spend time in this part of the river, which is a Superfund Site, as they transition from the river’s freshwater to the saltwater of the Puget Sound. Creating more welcoming habitat for these fish gives them places to find food and escape from predators.

San Francisco Bay: In 2007 the M/V Cosco Busan crashed into the Bay Bridge and spilled 53,000 gallons of thick fuel oil into California’s San Francisco Bay. Our response staff conducted aerial surveys of the oil, modeled the path of the spill, and assessed the impacts to the shoreline. Working with our partners, we also evaluated the impacts to fish, wildlife, and habitats, and determined the amount of restoration needed to make up for the oil spill. We are currently using special buoys to plant eelgrass in the Bay as one of the spill’s restoration projects. You can read more updates here.

Check back next week, Monday, Sept. 18 for more information about our work with estuaries!

Aug. 15, 2017 - How do you handle a polar bear covered in oil? That was just one aspect of the annual Mutual Aid Deployment exercise last month on Alaska’s North Slope oil field.

Staff members from our Emergency Response Division and the Assessment and Restoration Division as well as other NOAA offices participated in the three-day exercise. Each year government agencies, oil companies, and oil spill removal organizations in the region work together to respond to a simulated oil spill in Alaska.

The scenario for this year’s drill was the simulation of an oil pipeline leak in the Beaufort Sea and the rescue of an oiled polar bear. In the exercise, the pipeline that was leaking belonged to Hilcorp, Alaska LLC. It was the first year the oil company hosted the event.

In addition to our office, participants included:

• U.S. Coast Guard
• National Marine Fisheries Service
• Alaska Department of Fish and Game
• North Slope Borough
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• Alaska Department of Natural Resources
• Alaska Clean Seas
• Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation
• Hilcorp, Alaska LLC

The exercise included field equipment deployment, an Incident Command Center, and remote operations in Anchorage. Emergency Response Division staff participated in the Incident Management Team at the command center established at Hilcorp’s Endicott Facility on the Beaufort Sea north of Prudhoe Bay.

Staff from the Assessment and Restoration Division led the Natural Resource Damage Assessment component of the drill, that included a tabletop exercise with representatives from the state and federal agencies, and staff from Hilcorp. One Damage Assessment liaison was at the Endicott facility and the rest of the team participated remotely from Anchorage. The drill provided an opportunity to practice how a natural resource damage assessment would work with response early in a spill situation.

NOAA provides scientific support to the Coast Guard during oil and chemical spills, and the tools we’ve developed are an extension of that support. During the exercise, our GNOME trajectory-forecasting tool kept participants updated on where the spilled oil could go.

Arctic ERMA^®, our online Environmental Response Management Application, was continuously being updated with information on where the oil was as well as the location all the responders and their equipment. Environmental Sensitivity Index maps, which identify vulnerable wildlife and habitat potentially at risk from the spill, were also displayed in ERMA.

So how do you handle an oiled polar bear?

Very carefully and with a close eye on a timer.

Part of the drill was to see if an oil-injured polar bear could be tranquilized, pulled from the water, cleaned and caged before waking up.

Standing in for a real polar bear was an industrial-sized drum, filled with sand, covered with white cloth, and sporting a molded-foam head. The idea was to put the bear in the ocean and have emergency responders rescue the bear.

The rescue went well although some miscommunication early in the day added an unexpected element of realism—the team setting the fake bear in the lagoon did not anchor it, and due to heavy seas and winds on drill day, the bear drifted out into open water. However, the polar bear response team performed expertly and the fake bear was successfully located and rescued within the time allotted.

You can read more about other simulated oil (and oranges and rubber ducks) spills in these articles:

• From Rubber Ducks to Dog Food, Spilling Everything But Oil
• Above, Under, and Through the Ice: Demonstrating Technologies for Oil Spill Response in the Arctic

Zachary Winters-Staszak, Catherine Berg, and Sarah Allan of the Office of Response and Restoration contributed to this article.

Here in Seward, Alaska, we have built a well-equipped facility with depth in space, resources, and personnel. But chances are oil spills will occur somewhere other than our home base.

We have partnered with oil spill response organizations to provide support in other key areas with a large industrial and civic presence. These and other fixed facilities have the advantage of being close to population centers, providing shelter, and meeting the needs of stranded animals and our staff.

However, Alaska is a bit on the large side and has thousands of miles of remote coastlines dotted with small communities. As trans-Arctic shipping increases, so does the risk of accidents potentially affecting these shores, and we cannot count on spills happening where our equipment is conveniently available.

In fact, we need to be prepared to be completely self-sufficient and independent of even the smallest communities so as not to over-tax their resources with our activities.

So how do we take our rehab center on the road? Or rather, how do we take it down the beach, since most of Alaska’s shore is not accessible by road? We need a deployable set of equipment to treat impacted animals that will also meet the needs of the staff required to care for them.

Something like a MASH unit, a mobile army surgical hospital, or perhaps a ‘Mobile Animal Stranding Hospital!’ The team at Alaska Sea Life Center had already come up with an easily shipped seal pool and a list of equipment needed to support the oiled, stranded animals at fixed facilities as part of our partnerships with oil spill response organizations.

Now we needed to focus on those additional items needed if we were required to provide our own electricity, water, shelter, and staff needs, all of which needed to be compact and deployable.

Ultimately, we settled on a tiny-house-meets-Transformers approach in which we fill specially designed shipping container units with the necessary supplies and equipment, ready to be deployed where needed. Once on site, they transform into a veterinary clinic, food storage and kitchen, animal housing—including a pool, totes, crates, and dry area—and staff area.

But how will we staff our responses? Initially, we plan to draw from our own staff, as many are both Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response certified and experienced with caring for marine mammals and are based right here in Alaska. We have also partnered with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums to train additional personnel experienced with the unique challenges of caring for marine mammals. Their home institutions have agreed to allow trained staff to deploy in support of events, but their staff are also trained to assist with events in their local area.

In combination, these efforts keep us ready, keep Alaska ready, and keep zoos and aquaria across the country ready.

To read more about the Association of Zoos and Aquariums program to train members for wildlife spill response:

• Zoos and Aquariums Training for Oil Spill Emergency Response

Read more stories in our series on the effects of pollutants on wildlife:

• How to Locate Wildlife Threatened During Oil Spills 
• A Legacy of Industry and Toxins in Northern New Jersey: Striped Bass and Blue Crab
• How Marine Debris is Impacting Marine Animals

 

Carrie Goertz is the staff veterinarian at the Alaska SeaLife Center overseeing the program of veterinary care for collection, research, and stranded animals. Special interests include helping the center and other zoological facilities being prepared to respond to disasters as well as how information about animals in zoological facilities and free ranging wildlife can help provide the best care for both groups. Opened in 1998, the Alaska SeaLife Center is a private, non-profit research institution and public aquarium. ASLC generates and shares scientific knowledge to promote understanding and stewardship of Alaska’s marine ecosystems, and is an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. To learn more, visit www.alaskasealife.org.

In May, there were two incidents of dead gray whales in Washington state, one floating offshore near Long Beach, and another washed ashore in Bellingham Bay. In both cases, we were asked for trajectories. In the case of a whale found floating at sea, we use our GNOME trajectory modeling software to map the possible drift route of the carcass.

When a whale washes ashore, one of the things that officials need to know is how far they have to tow the carcass back out to sea to ensure it will not wash back to shore.

Our Incident News website has information on oil spills and other incidents where we provided scientific support.

Bellingham Gray Whale Carcass

Gray Whale Carcass: Seaview Approach, Washington

Lower Caribbean Oil Spill

Mystery Sheen, Keweenaw Waterway, Michigan

Sunken Tug, Eugene Island Block, Offshore, Louisiana

GB 545 Mystery Sheen

Delta Flight 159 Fuel Dump

Mystery Sheen, MC-21

Ethylene Glycol Drums, Sea Rim State Park

Tug Adrift off Washington Coast

Tug Mr. Landon Aground

PVS Chemicals Sulfuric Acid Release

Crowley Barge DBL 165-1 Grounding

Marathon Petroleum Storage Tank H2S release

Navy OCEANA Jet Fuel Spill

U.S. Steel Ferrous Chloride Release

Feb. 3, 2017 -- NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R), a leader in providing scientific information in response to marine pollution, has scheduled a summer Science of Oil Spills (SOS) class in Seattle, Washington, June 19-23, 2017. OR&R will accept applications for the Seattle class until Friday, April 7. We will notify applicants regarding their application status no later than Friday, April 14, via email. SOS classes help spill responders increase their understanding of oil spill science when analyzing spills and making risk-based decisions. They are designed for new and mid-level spill responders. SOS training covers:

• Fate and behavior of oil spilled in the environment.
• An introduction to oil chemistry and toxicity.
• A review of basic spill response options for open water and shorelines.
• Spill case studies.
• Principles of ecological risk assessment.
• A field trip.
• An introduction to damage assessment techniques.
• Determining cleanup endpoints.

To view the topics for the next SOS class, download a sample agenda [PDF, 170 KB]. Please understand that classes are not filled on a first-come, first-served basis. We try to diversify the participant composition to ensure a variety of perspectives and experiences, to enrich the workshop for the benefit of all participants. Classes are generally limited to 40 participants. For more information, and to learn how to apply for the class, visit the SOS Classes page.

Point source pollution is defined as coming from a single point, such as a factory or sewage treatment plant. Here are a few examples of point source pollution OR&R worked on. Deepwater Horizonoil spill, Gulf of Mexico — Releasing about 134 million gallons of oil the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill is the largest point source of oil pollution in United States history. Mosaic Acidic Water Release, Florida — On Sept. 5, 2004, acidic water was released during Hurricane Frances from Mosaic Fertilizer, LLC’s storage containment system. The spill polluted nearly 10 acres of seagrass beds and more than 135 acres of wetland habitats, including almost 80 acres of mangroves. Montrose Hazardous Releases, California — From the late 1940s to the early 1970s, millions of pounds of DDT and polychlorinated biphenyl were discharged into ocean waters off the southern California coast. Most of the DDT originated from the Montrose Chemical Corporation manufacturing plant located in Torrance, California. In 2001, NOAA and other federal and state agencies reached a settlement with the polluters, establishing the Montrose Settlements Restoration Program (MSRP).

Runoff from urban and suburban areas is a major origin of non-point source pollution. Discarded trash can become a component of non-point source pollution runoff. For the last 10 years, NOAA’s Marine Debris Program has been tackling non-point pollution of marine debris by leading research, prevention, and removal projects. Here are a few examples of non-point source pollution the Marine Debris Program worked on. Tijuana River, California — The large amounts of trash and larger debris that wash downstream threaten and degrade the Tijuana River Valley’s valuable ecological, cultural, recreational, and economic resources. A grant from NOAA funds work that includes the removal and disposal of debris that accumulates behind large trash booms designed to block debris from flowing into the ocean. Shuyak Island, Alaska — With the support of a Marine Debris Program grant, the Island Trails Network (ITN) is leading an innovative two-year effort to remove marine debris from a remote island in Alaska. Working with 100 volunteers and trained crew, ITN created a kayak-based cleanup operation to remove about 40,000 pounds of marine debris from Shuyak Island. The island — a remote location with critical habitat for numerous species of birds, fish, and marine mammals — accumulates large amounts of marine debris because of ocean currents and winds. Joe Inslee is a policy/outreach analyst with NOAA’s Assessment and Restoration Division. His work helps raise the visibility of the critical scientific work his office conducts after a hazardous release.

Nov. 10, 2016 -- The winter of 1976-77 was a bad time for oil spills in the United States. I was still in middle school, but I remember doing a science report on oil spills. In a short time period there were multiple major oil spills, including these:

• The tanker Argo Merchant ran aground on Dec. 15, 1976 and later broke apart off Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, spilling 7.6 million gallons of heavy fuel oil.
• The tanker Sansinena exploded in Los Angeles Harbor, California, on Dec. 17, 1976, spilling 1.3 million gallons of heavy oil. Nine crew were killed and 46 people were injured.
• Christmas Eve 1976 was not all quiet, when the tanker Oswego Peace spilled 5,000 gallons of bunker fuel into New London Harbor, Connecticut.
• The tanker Olympic Games ran aground in the Delaware River, south of Philadelphia Pennsylvania, on Dec. 27, 1976, spilling 145,000 gallons of crude.

The rash of incidents continued into the New Year.

• On Jan. 4, 1977, the tanker Universe Leader, loaded with 21 million gallons, ran aground in the Delaware River, New Jersey. It was refloated without a spill.
• Also on Jan. 4, 1977, the tanker Grand Zenith, loaded with 8 million gallons of oil, was lost with all hands off the coast of New England. Only a few pieces of debris and an oil slick were found.
• On Jan. 10, 1977, the tanker Chester A. Poling broke in half and sank off Gloucester, Massachusetts. It had just discharged its cargo and was only carrying ballast, but still spilled 14,000 gallons of diesel. One crew member was killed.

The large number of tanker accidents and loss of life alarmed the public and Congress. Hearings were quickly held in the District of Columbia in January, 1977. The hearing transcripts provide an insight into shipping and pollution concerns of the time. These concerns included the risk of spills from the still-under-construction Trans-Alaska Pipeline System that would open in a few months. The hearings concluded, but the rash of spills that winter did not.

• On Jan. 17, 1977, the tanker Irene’s Challenger, loaded with 9.6 million gallons of crude oil, broke apart and sank near Midway Island in North Pacific Ocean. Three crew were lost.
• On Feb. 2, 1977, the tank barge Ethel H spilled 480,000 gallons of crude oil into New York Harbor.
• On Feb. 26, 1977, the tanker Hawaiian Patriot broke apart and sank off Hawaii, spilling 31 million gallons of crude oil. All but one of the crew were rescued. This little known incident is still considered the largest tanker spill in United States waters.

This winter marks the 40th anniversary of NOAA’s spill response program — a program that began, not surprisingly, in the wake of all of these incidents. In December, the Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) will post a series of stories on NOAA’s leading role in oil spill response.
 

Doug Helton is the Regional Operations Supervisor for the West Coast, Alaska, Hawaii, and Great Lakes and also serves as the Incident Operations Coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Emergency Response Division. The Division provides scientific and technical support to the Coast Guard during oil and chemical spill responses. The Division is based in Seattle, WA, but manages NOAA response efforts nationally.

Walking on the beach is one of life’s great pleasures. Walking on the beach and ending up with sticky black balls attached to your feet is not so pleasurable. Tarballs, those sticky black globs, are often leftover from an oil spill. When crude oil (or a heavier refined product) hits the ocean’s surface, it undergoes physical change. The change process is called “weathering.” As the wind and waves stretch and tear the oil patches into smaller pieces, tarballs are formed. Tarballs can be as flat and large as pancakes, or as small as a dime.

How long do tarballs remain sticky? Are tarballs hazardous to your health? How are tarballs removed from affected beaches? Those and other questions, including how to report new sightings of tarballs, can be found on our Tarballs page.