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Sanctuary Rocky
Intertidal Open
Ocean & Endangered
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Dedicated in 1992, the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary is the largest of thirteen sanctuaries nationwide managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Encom- passing more than 5,300 square miles of water, its boundaries stretch along the central California coast from the Marin County headlands south to Cambria. The Sanctuary features many diverse biological communities, including wave-swept beaches, lush kelp forests, and one of the deepest underwater canyons in North America. An abundance of life, from tiny plankton to huge blue whales, thrives in these waters. Our mission -- to understand and protect the coastal ecosystem and cultural resources of central California -- is carried out through the work of four program divisions: resource protection, education and outreach, research, and program support. Following is a summary of each division's major accomplishments and activities for 2000.
The goal of the Resource Protection Program is to initiate and implement strategies to reduce or prevent detrimental human impacts to the Sanctuary. To aid these efforts over our expansive range, Monterey Bay was one of two national marine sanctuaries selected to pilot an enforcement program in 2000. We were assigned a special agent from NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement to concentrate on Sanctuary enforcement issues. As a result, we have improved our response and investigative capabilities and are developing a strategic enforcement plan to improve monitoring and surveillance within the Sanctuary. We reviewed more than fifty-nine permit requests during the year. Permits were issued for seabed alteration activities, discharges to the Sanctuary, and overflights below 1,000 feet in restricted zones. Distinct conditions were added to the permits to reduce or eliminate potential threats to Sanctuary resources. Staff reviewed proposed fiberoptic cable projects and requested the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement for one project. Two proposed cable installations within the Sanctuary were instrumental in prompting NOAA to develop a policy for fiberoptic cables throughout U.S. waters and all national marine sanctuaries. This policy development is currently underway with a final document due shortly. We are participating in the development of a Coast Highway Management Plan with the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans). The plan is an interagency, multi-stakeholder effort to manage landslides and construction of Highway 1 along the Big Sur coastline. In addition, we are working with CalTrans and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to develop a sediment budget for the region in an effort to assess the volume of sediment that is lost from natural and anthropogenic coastal erosion along Highway 1. We had a busy year responding to environmental emergencies related to sewage spills, boat groundings or sinkings, and airplane crashes, coordinating the salvage and defueling of vessels and the removal of debris. We also sent a team to help the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary respond to the Alaska Airlines crash. (See page 26 for list of vessel incidents in the Sanctuary.) After responding to a 70,000 gallon raw sewage spill at Lovers Point and subsequent smaller spills, we worked with the City of Pacific Grove to initiate a Model Urban Runoff Program.
Early this year we announced the completion of
the Agricultural and Rural Lands Plan, The WQPP continued to implement strategies outlined in the urban runoff, marinas and boating, and regional monitoring plans. Bilge water pumpout and oil/water separator equipment was installed at Monterey and Moss Landing harbors. Staff worked with the California Coastal Commission and local cities to present a series of three Model Urban Runoff Program Technical Training workshops throughout the year. Along with many partners, the Sanctuary's Citizen Watershed Monitoring Network organized more than one hundred volunteers for a one-day, Sanctuary-wide monitoring event. The event, "Snapshot Day 2000," held on Earth Day, was the largest simultaneous water quality monitoring event in California (see page 13). In October, the Network mobilized twenty-five volunteers to sample storm water pollutants in three cities during "First Flush," the first heavy rain of the season, which flushes out pollutants that have accumulated during the dry season. The International Maritime Organization gave final approval in May for a Sanctuary vessel traffic scheme that moves recommended tracks for ships of 300 gross tons and above, as well as ships carrying hazardous materials and barges, further offshore. We began educating mariners about the new vessel tracks by distributing flyers to shipping agents and captains, placing the new tracks on nautical charts, and including the strategy in NOAA's U.S. Coast Pilot. These accomplishments are the result of a three-year planning effort initiated by the Sanctuary and the U.S. Coast Guard in collaboration with a variety of government agencies, the shipping industry, and environmental groups.
The goal of the Education
and Outreach Program is to promote understanding
and stewardship of the Sanctuary. One focus in 2000
was to expand outreach to the southern part of the
Sanctuary. We sponsored three Cambria teachers to
participate in our annual teacher workshop, worked
with San Luis Obispo County to install a new
"Sanctuary southern monument" exhibit, began
planning a new outdoor exhibit at the Hearst
Castle visitor center, and partnered with
California State Parks and National Geographic
Theatre in Our Santa Cruz-based education specialist continued to enhance public awareness of the Sanctuary by attending many public events and providing numerous presentations in the Santa Cruz area. She worked closely with the Santa Cruz Interagency Task Force to produce a new brochure, Fifty Ways to Get Your Feet Wet in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, Santa Cruz County, highlighting the many marine education and recreation facilities in the region. Visitors can also learn more about the Sanctuary by viewing a new traveling exhibit at Seacliff State Park Visitor Center and a new outdoor display kiosk on the Santa Cruz Wharf. Causes of Ecosystem Change: Natural or Human? was the theme of the 2000 Sanctuary Currents Symposium. Presentations touched on fisheries, marine mammal populations, climate variability, and coastal land use as well as ecological change in kelp forest, rocky intertidal, and pelagic environments. Individuals and organizations were honored for their dedication to the Sanctuary (see box on page 4). Our annual SSE Student Summit events featured
the theme ecosystem monitoring. To inspire high
school student teams to undertake field projects,
we organized a workshop on rocky intertidal
monitoring techniques with regional scientific
experts. At the summit, Other education activities related to SSE included two on-the-water excursions for students and a live satellite uplink that allowed the public to interact with divers in the Sanctuary. Our "teacher in the sea," Mike Guardino, continued his research project using the Deep Worker submersible. The Sanctuary was featured in an SSE virtual teacher workshop that reached more than 200 participants around the country and in new school curriculum activities developed by the National Geographic Society. We are continuing to expand "The Land-Sea Connection," a curriculum produced earlier in the year as a companion to our new Sanctuary map. We also supported the development of S.E.A. Lab Monterey Bay, a residential marine education program for students that piloted a successful week-long program in July. Educational activities associated with the Model Urban Runoff Program continued in the cities of Monterey, Pacific Grove, and Santa Cruz and expanded to Watsonville and Capitola. Working with the city of Watsonville and the California Coastal Commission, we developed new bilingual products and programs with messages about preventing urban runoff pollution. With the city of Monterey we completed a bilingual training video, "Make The Connection," which provides storm drain pollution prevention tips for restaurant employees. In addition we produced a bilingual PSA for television on urban runoff pollution and our Urban Watch monitoring program, already underway in Monterey and Pacific Grove, was expanded to Capitola.
Last year NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service contracted us to provide outreach on protecting threatened salmon and steelhead populations. Working with various partners, we used the funding to enhance the Sanctuary's Citizen Watershed Monitoring Network, conduct technical training workshops on sediment control, and develop educational materials for targeted audiences including a poster on "Salmonids of the Sanctuary." Working with members of the Pacific Grove Tide Pool Taskforce, we led the effort to produce new interpretive panels for the Pacific Grove shoreline. Six new signs were placed along access ways to the tidepools to inform visitors how to avoid harming or disturbing intertidal creatures. Through our Diver Partnership Program, we held an underwater photo contest with winning images used in a new brochure on ways divers can enjoy and protect the Sanctuary. The seventh annual Great American Fish Count attracted many divers who counted fish during the first two weeks of July. (See page 25 for more information.) This fall, with our enforcement team, we piloted a new outreach program for the growing community of sea kayakers in Monterey and Elkhorn Slough, informing them about the Sanctuary and appropriate wildlife-watching etiquette. Our new Team OCEAN program involves a team of Sanctuary staff on-the-water who educate fellow kayakers about wildlife and how to protect sensitive animals, especially marine mammals, from disturbance. An exciting new effort was launched this year to develop a Multicultural Education Plan that will guide us in expanding outreach to the Hispanic communities in Salinas, Watsonville, and San Jose. We surveyed more than forty local groups to find out what types of programs and services they offer to Hispanic students, teachers, parents, and families and then evaluated what types of services were still needed and how we could help provide those within the framework of our mission. The support and enthusiasm from the community has been phenomenal.
The Research Program focuses on science for resource management, identifying information gaps, developing collaborative studies to improve understanding of issues, and interpreting research for decision-makers. In 2000 several important personnel changes aided the research team. We gained a research assistant position, developed a shared contract position with the CDFG geographic information system laboratory, and added Research Activity Panel members to represent the Coastal Commission and Point Reyes Bird Observatory.
It is critical to know what the natural resources are and how they change through time in order to be effective in managing natural resources. We made great strides in this direction by developing a Sanctuary Integrated Monitoring Program (SIMoN). SIMoN was developed with extensive input from resource managers and scientists and will include coordinated historical data compilations, state of the Sanctuary publications, Web access for education and resource management purposes, and new funds for monitoring. NOAA has committed to providing more staff to coordinate this effort, $1.5 million in permit monitoring funds has been promised to start the program, and we have submitted proposals to develop this model monitoring program for the nation. In the meantime, the Sanctuary continued to support monitoring data on: beachcast organisms (page 19); pelagic surveys for birds, krill, whales, and other mammals; gray whales (page 18); kelp forest canopies; and rocky shore habitats.
The Site Characterization document continues to
be an important tool in summarizing what we know
about the Sanctuary's physical setting and
biological communities and continues to be heavily
used by the public. This year we added hundreds of
references to the online bibliography. We also
initiated new studies characterizing the
Sanctuary's cultural resources as well as
invertebrates that dwell on the continental
shelf. Mapping projects by The research team participated in research cruises aboard MBARI's Western Flyer, Moss Landing Marine Labs' John Martin, and NOAA's McArthur. We also took advantage of NOAA's airplane, the Shrike AeroCommander. These collaborative efforts included exploring the Davidson Seamount (page 8); assessing krill, bird and mammal populations; and tagging leatherback turtles (page 16). Using the Deep Worker submersible for SSE, we were able to photograph the seafloor associated with no-fishing reserves and potential communication cable routes. Politicians, educators, scientists, resource managers, the news media, and the general public are increasingly turning to the Research Program for technical information. In addition to answering numerous minor questions, the research team produced a kelp management report, which summarizes existing information on kelp systems, harvest, and policy recommendations. This report facilitated extensive public input on the topic, and the CDFG is using it in developing its updated five-year kelp management plan. We are also working with citizen groups on a scientific assessment of human impacts to the Point Pinos rocky shores in Pacific Grove. The research team has a vision of providing near real-time summary data for the public and resource managers over the Web. We are currently developing a Web site with maps and graphs of natural resource information that should be available to view next year. In the mean time, see our Web site for numerous research technical reports. One of our publications, with many fine regional collaborators, was in the prestigious journal Nature and focused on impacts of harmful algal blooms.
The Sanctuary staff experienced substantial change in 2000. We welcomed two contractors onboard as government service employees, hired four new staff members, and said farewell to four talented people. We also opened a new satellite office in Cambria, co-located with the California Department of Parks and Recreation at Hearst Castle and managed by a new education specialist. Sanctuary staff hosted delegations interested in marine protected areas from Korea and Australia as well as government staff members from the Secretary of Commerce policy department. Our national headquarters detailed an employee to our office to help with Sanctuary Advisory Council coordination and public relations. As a result, we have increased our participation with the media as well as our local, national, and international visibility by hosting media from around the United States, England, Japan, and Germany. The Sanctuary Advisory Council continued to work with staff to establish priorities for the Sanctuary, offer a forum for presenting public issues and concerns, and provide information and advice to the superintendent. At this year's annual strategic planning session, the Council elected to focus its efforts next year on the upcoming Management Plan Review, the Sanctuary Integrated Monitoring Network, and policies addressing fiberoptic cables and desalination plants. Council issues of interest and concern in 2000 included the kelp forest management plan, fiberoptic cable policy, SAC charter amendment, Sanctuary Integrated Monitoring Network, Duke Energy power plant expansion, and the Diver Partnership Program. As in the past, the Council worked closely with the Conservation Working Group, Research Activities Panel, Sanctuary Education Panel, and Business and Tourism Panel. The Monterey Bay Sanctuary Foundation was busy marketing and distributing numerous educational products and managing grants in support of the Sanctuary's mission. Projects included Point Pinos tidepool facilitation, salmon/steelhead education, and Citizen Watershed Monitoring Network coordination. In cooperation with the Sanctuary, the foundation sponsored fundraising efforts that involved Robert Lyn Nelson Studios and the Ansel Adams Gallery. |
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For comments or question please refer to the Webmaster Last modified on: Jan 15,
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