Bernardo Vargas-Angel

PIFSC Cruise Report HA-18-01 (Cruise HA-18-01)

2018

American Samoa and the Pacific Islands Marine National Monument

NOAA NMFS Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC)

HA-18-01

15

NOAA Ship Hiialakai, Project HA-18-01 (Legs 1, 2, and 3)

Goals: "1. Conduct ecosystem monitoring of the species composition, abundance, percent cover, size distribution, and general health of the fishes, corals, other invertebrates, and algae of the shallow water (<30 m) coral reef ecosystems 2. Deploy, retrieve, and/or service an array of instruments and installationsincluding Subsurface Temperature Recorders (STRs), Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS), Calcification Accretion Units (CAUs), Bioerosion Monitoring Units (BMUs)to allow longterm monitoring of oceanographic and environmental conditions affecting the shallow-water (<30 m) coral reef ecosystems. 3. Monitor nearshore physical and ecological factors associated with ocean acidification and general water quality, including analysis of seawater for salinity, temperature, nutrients (PRIMNM only), dissolved oxygen, transmissivity, total alkalinity, and dissolved inorganic carbon. 4. Use photomosaics to collect coral community composition data at select sites and contextualize any physical and/or biological changes recorded at the climate stations over time. Conduct photomosaics at a subset of stratified random sites to test survey methods for future coral demographic surveys. 5. Opportunistically collect shallow water coral cores to examine calcification/extension rates in recent decades and assess potential early impacts of ocean acidification. 6. Conduct shipboard CTD (Conductivity, Temperature, Density) casts at each island 15 km offshore in each cardinal direction along with a concurrent water sample. 7. Conduct shipboard ADCP surveys around reef ecosystems to examine physical and biological linkages supporting island ecosystems. 8. Collect oceanographic data utilizing shipboard measurement systems (ADCP, ThermoSalinoGraph, and TA and pCO2 flow-through system, in the Scientific Computer System) during all transits for the duration of the project 9. Recover High Frequency Acoustic Recording Packages (HARPs) used for long-term monitoring of cetaceans in the Pacific Islands Region. 10. Determine the existence of threats to the health of these coral reef resources from anthropogenic sources, including marine debris 11. Support investigations of marine microbial communities, including the collection of specimens via water sampling, coral/algal biopsies, and benthic grab samples. 12. Provide logistical support to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to conduct terrestrial surveys at Howland, Baker, Jarvis and Swains islands, and Rose Atoll, and Jarvis Island."

https://doi.org/10.25923/e9wk-eg69

FY2019; CRCP Project: 743; Project Title: National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) Implementation (Biological Monitoring); Principal Investigator: Justine Kimball FY2019; CRCP Project: 31186; Project Title: NCRMP Data, Reports, and Information Products for Management; Principal Investigator: Rusty Brainard