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Microplastic pollution in the ocean is a critical, global environmental concern. Although believed to be a comparatively small contributor, the paints applied to commercial ships have been identified as a source of microplastics because polymers are used as binding agents in all anticorrosive and antifouling marine coatings. Furthermore, the release of microplastics from coatings may be amplified by in-water cleaning operations to remove biofouling. A comprehensive, detailed assessment and review of the array of commercial ships’ coatings, specifically characteristics, behavior, and fate over time, has not been conducted in the context of ocean microplastic pollution. This Policy Brief identifies gaps and proposes actions to better understand the fate of released particles with the goal to inform appropriate and effective solutions.

Submerged ship surfaces are often inhabited by diverse sessile and sedentary marine organisms, which can directly impact vessel operations and increase the likelihood of non-indigenous species (NIS) establishment and impacts. Ship in-water cleaning (IWC) systems are now being incorporated into biofouling policy, and rigorous, transparent, and predictive verification testing is vital to regulatory success. Performance criteria for IWC approval should focus on environmental protection goals by including: qualified and independent testing; quantitative, robust, and statistically sound data, rather than qualitative observations; water sampling at all critical control points to characterize the release of harmful materials, including dissolved and particulate biocides; measurable and protective endpoints, rather than percent reductions; determinations of presence or absence of macro-organisms, irrespective of species origins or physiological state; and appropriately trained IWC operators.

Biofouling is a long-standing challenge for ships because it can interfere with operations and increases vessel drag, fuel consumption and exhaust emissions. More recently, ship biofouling has also been recognized as a leading vector for global transfers and introductions of marine non-indigenous species. Ship in-water cleaning and capture (IWCC) systems, to remove and collect macrofouling organisms and associated antifouling coating compounds, are now becoming available as a possible solution to both problems. However, independent and rigorous evaluations of IWCC efficacy and environmental safety are needed to facilitate technology maturation, support vessel operator biofouling management decisions, aid IWCC approvals and permitting, and inform future biosecurity regulations. We developed a formal protocol for evaluating an IWCC system, on two ships with varying biofouling levels and under different environmental conditions, to quantify biofouling removal and capture efficacy as well as impacts on water quality. The IWCC system reduced hull biofouling by 82–94%. Concentrations of dissolved and particulate Cu and Zn in effluent from the IWCC onshore processing varied by orders of magnitude between trials, in one case greatly exceeding water quality standards. Our results demonstrate that rigorous, quantitative assessments of IWCC system performance are possible, even under challenging conditions. This initial evaluation also identifies the major factors that impact performance of in-water cleaning, and key needs for future research to consider in advancing standardized testing and independent evaluations needed for all in-water cleaning systems.

National and international regulations require that ships' ballast water is treated to minimize the risk of introducing potentially invasive species. A common approach employed by commercial ballast water management systems is chlorination. This study presents the algal toxicity findings for three chlorination-based BWMS and their implications to environmental safety of port waters receiving treated ballast water from ships. Discharged treated ballast water from all three BWMS was toxic to algae with IC25s (25% growth inhibition) ranging from 9.9% to 17.9%, despite having total residual oxidant concentrations below 0.02 mg/l, based on Whole Effluent Toxicity assays. When held at 4 °C, some of the ballast water samples continued to exhibit toxic effects with no observed effect concentrations as low as 18% after a 134 day holding time. Thirteen individual disinfection by-products were measured above the detected limit at the time of discharge. No correlation between DBPs and algal toxicity was observed.

Scientists who observe and distribute oceanographic data require a process to ensure high-quality data. This process includes quality assurance, quality control, quality assessment, standards, and best practices. In this paper, quality assurance is widely regarded as actions taken prior to instrument deployment to improve the probability of generating good data, while quality control is the effort made to examine the resultant data. Herein we focus on quality assurance and strive to guide the oceanographic community by identifying existing quality assurance best practices preferred by the five entities represented by the authors – specifically, the Alliance for Coastal Technology, the AtlantOS project, the Integrated Marine Observing System, the Joint Technical Commission for Oceanographic and Marine Meteorology, and the U.S. IOOS Quality Assurance/Quality Control of Real-Time Oceanographic Data project. The focus has been placed on QA in response to suggestions from the AtlantOS and QARTOD communities. We define the challenges associated with quality assurance, which include a clear understanding of various terms, the overlap in meaning of those terms, establishment of standards, and varying program requirements. Brief, “real-world” case-studies are presented to demonstrate the challenges. Following this is a description of best practices gathered by the authors from hundreds of scientists over the many years or decades the aforementioned entities have been in place. These practices address instrument selection, preparation, deployment, maintenance, and data acquisition. Varying resources and capabilities are considered, and corresponding levels of quality assurance efforts are discussed. We include a comprehensive description of measurement uncertainty with a detailed example of such a calculation. Rigorous estimates of measurement uncertainty are surprisingly complex, necessarily specific, and not provided as often as needed. But they are critical to data users who may have applications not envisioned by the data provider, to ensure appropriate use of the data. The guidance is necessarily generic because of the broad expanse of oceanographic observations. Further, it is platform-agnostic and applies to most deployment scenarios. We identify the recently created Ocean Best Practice System as one means of developing, sharing, documenting, and curating more specific QA processes. Ultimately, our goal here is to foster their development and harmonization.

Recurrent blooms of harmful algae and cyanobacteria (HABs) plague many coastal and inland waters throughout the United States and have significant socioeconomic impacts to the adjacent communities. Notable HAB events in recent years continue to underscore the many remaining gaps in knowledge and increased needs for technological advances leading to early detection. This review summarizes the main research and management priorities that can be addressed through ocean observation-based approaches and technological solutions for harmful algal blooms, provides an update to the state of the technology to detect HAB events based on recent activities of the Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT), offers considerations for ensuring data quality, and highlights both ongoing challenges and opportunities for solutions in integrating HAB-focused technologies in research and management. Specifically, technological advances are discussed for remote sensing (both multispectral satellite and hyperspectral); deployable in situ detection of HAB species on fixed or mobile platforms (based on bulk or taxa-specific biomass, images, or molecular approaches); and field-based and/or rapid quantitative detection of HAB toxins (via molecular and analytical chemistry methods). Suggestions for addressing challenges to continued development and adoption of new technologies are summarized, based on a consensus-building workshop hosted by ACT, including dealing with the uncertainties in investment for HAB research, monitoring, and management. Challenges associated with choosing appropriate technologies for a given ecosystem and/or management concern are also addressed, and examples of programs that are leveraging and combining complementary approaches are highlighted.

The oceans play a key role in global issues such as climate change, food security, and human health. Given their vast dimensions and internal complexity, efficient monitoring and predicting of the planet’s ocean must be a collaborative effort of both regional and global scale. A first and foremost requirement for such collaborative ocean observing is the need to follow well-defined and reproducible methods across activities: from strategies for structuring observing systems, sensor deployment and usage, and the generation of data and information products, to ethical and governance aspects when executing ocean observing. To meet the urgent, planet-wide challenges we face, methods across all aspects of ocean observing should be broadly adopted by the ocean community and, where appropriate, should evolve into “Ocean Best Practices.” While many groups have created best practices, they are scattered across the Web or buried in local repositories and many have yet to be digitized. To reduce this fragmentation, we introduce a new open access, permanent, digital repository of best practices documentation (oceanbestpractices.org) that is part of the Ocean Best Practices System (OBPS). The new OBPS provides an opportunity space for the centralized and coordinated improvement of ocean observing methods. The OBPS repository employs user-friendly software to significantly improve discovery and access to methods. The software includes advanced semantic technologies for search capabilities to enhance repository operations. In addition to the repository, the OBPS also includes a peer reviewed journal research topic, a forum for community discussion and a training activity for use of best practices. Together, these components serve to realize a core objective of the OBPS, which is to enable the ocean community to create superior methods for every activity in ocean observing from research to operations to applications that are agreed upon and broadly adopted across communities. Using selected ocean observing examples, we show how the OBPS supports this objective. This paper lays out a future vision of ocean best practices and how OBPS will contribute to improving ocean observing in the decade to come.

The International Maritime Organization and U.S. Coast Guard have implemented regulations to reduce introductions of non-indigenous species via ballast water (BW). For phytoplankton, regulations limit discharges to10 live/viable cells mL

Ballast water is used to safely stabilize and operate shipping vessels worldwide, in a multitude of aquatic settings, including inland, coastal and open oceans. However, ballast water may pose ecological, public health, and/or economic problems as it may serve as vehicles of transmission of microorganisms. Current ballast water regulations include limits of Escherichia coli, Enterococcus spp. and toxigenic Vibrio cholerae. Several United States Environmental Protection Agency approved standard operating protocols (SOPs) exist for detection of E. coli and Enterococci, yet none exists for V. cholerae. Current V. cholerae detection methods include colony blot hybridization, direct fluorescent antibody test (DFA), and/or polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which can be time consuming and difficult to perform. This study utilizes Cholera SMART II to determine its potential use in detection of V. cholerae. Validation of this method would help provide quick and accurate analysis for V. cholerae in ballast discharge waters in the field.

The ability of dissolved chemical cues to induce larval settlement from the water column has long been debated. Through computer-assisted video motion analysis, we quantified the movements of individual oyster (Crassostrea virginica) larvae in a small racetrack flume at free-stream flow speeds of 2.8, 6.2, and 10.4 cm/s. In response to waterborne chemical cues, but not to seawater (control), oyster larvae moved downward in the water column and swam in slow curved paths before attaching to the flume bottom. Effective stimuli were adult-oyster-conditioned seawater (OCW) and a synthetic peptide analog (glycyl-glycyl-L-arginine) for the natural cue. The chemically mediated behavioral responses of oyster larvae in flow were essentially identical to those responses previously reported in still water. Our experimental results therefore demonstrate the capacity of waterborne cues to evoke settlement behavior in oyster pediveligers under varying hydrodynamic conditions.

Given the societal importance of reliable and accurate ocean observations, the wave monitoring community (including academic researchers, agency scientists, resource managers, and representatives from wave instrument manufacturers) came together to develop a set of protocols for the test and evaluation of wave measurement systems in support of the 2009 National Operational Wave Observation Plan. These protocols are focused on a wide range of wave measurement instruments and their respective performance in successfully recovering the “First-5” Fourier components of the incident wave field. Performance is determined by comparing each system’s output with a verifiable reference method over a predetermined range of wave frequencies. It is recommended that permanent wave test facilities are created on the West Coast (Monterey Bay, CA—deep water) and the East Coast (Duck, NC—shallow water) for continued evaluations of existing and new technologies. It was recognized that no absolute standard exists for the determination of the “First-5” across all spatial domains. Therefore, it was agreed that the Directional Waverider DWR-MkIII system was the best available reference/standard for the deep and intermediate water wave evaluations as verified by the laser array (LASAR) at the ConocoPhillips Ekofisk offshore platform complex in the North Sea. The long linear array at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Field Research Facility could be used as the standard for shallow water wave evaluations. Finally, given the significance of wave measurements, an appropriate level of quality assurance and quality control procedures must be included as part of any test and evaluation effort. The details of the proposed protocols for the verification of wave measurement systems are described.

The effects of low-pH, high-pCO2 conditions on deep-sea organisms were examined during four deep-sea CO2 release experiments simulating deep-ocean C sequestration by the direct injection of CO2 into the deep sea. We examined the survival of common deep-sea, benthic organisms (microbes; macrofauna, dominated by Polychaeta, Nematoda, Crustacea, Mollusca; megafauna, Echinodermata, Mollusca, Pisces) exposed to low-pH waters emanating as a dissolution plume from pools of liquid carbon dioxide released on the seabed during four abyssal CO2-release experiments. Microbial abundance in deep-sea sediments was unchanged in one experiment, but increased under environmental hypercapnia during another, where the microbial assemblage may have benefited indirectly from the negative impact of low-pH conditions on other taxa. Lower abyssal metazoans exhibited low survival rates near CO2 pools. No urchins or holothurians survived during 30–42 days of exposure to episodic, but severe environmental hypercapnia during one experiment (E1; pH reduced by as much as ca. 1.4 units). These large pH reductions also caused 75% mortality for the deep-sea amphipod, Haploops lodo, near CO2 pools. Survival under smaller pH reductions (ΔpHo0.4 units) in other experiments (E2, E3, E5) was higher for all taxa, including echinoderms. Gastropods, cephalopods, and fish were more tolerant than most other taxa. The gastropod Retimohnia sp. and octopus Benthoctopus sp. survived exposure to pH reductions that episodically reached −0.3 pH units. Ninety percent of abyssal zoarcids (Pachycara bulbiceps) survived exposure to pH changes reaching ca. −0.3 pH units during 30–42 day-long experiments.

The development of phosphate sensors suitable for long-term in situ deployments in natural waters, is essential to improve our understanding of the distribution, fluxes, and biogeochemical role of this key nutrient in a changing ocean. Here, we describe the optimization of the molybdenum blue method for in situ work using a lab-on-chip (LOC) analyzer and evaluate its performance in the laboratory and at two contrasting field sites. The in situ performance of the LOC sensor is evaluated using hourly time-series data from a 56-day trial in Southampton Water (UK), as well as a month-long deployment in the subtropical oligotrophic waters of Kaneohe Bay (Hawaii, USA). In Kaneohe Bay, where phosphate concentrations were characteristic of the dry season (0.13 ± 0.03 μM, n = 704), the in situ sensor accuracy was 16 ± 12% and a potential diurnal cycle in phosphate concentrations was observed. In Southampton Water, the sensor data (1.02 ± 0.40 μM, n = 1,267) were accurate to ±0.10 μM relative to discrete reference samples. Hourly in situ monitoring revealed striking tidal and storm derived fluctuations in phosphate concentrations in Southampton Water that would not have been captured via discrete sampling. We show the impact of storms on phosphate concentrations in Southampton Water is modulated by the spring-neap tidal cycle and that the 10-fold decline in phosphate concentrations observed during the later stages of the deployment was consistent with the timing of a spring phytoplankton bloom in the English Channel. Under controlled laboratory conditions in a 250 L tank, the sensor demonstrated an accuracy and precision better than 10% irrespective of the salinity (0–30), turbidity (0–100 NTU), colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) concentration (0–10 mg/L), and temperature (5–20°C) of the water (0.3–13 μM phosphate) being analyzed. This work demonstrates that the LOC technology is mature enough to quantify the influence of stochastic events on nutrient budgets and to elucidate the role of phosphate in regulating phytoplankton productivity and community composition in estuarine and coastal regimes.

The Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT) has been established to support innovation and to provide the information required to select the most appropriate tools for studying and monitoring coastal and ocean environments. ACT is a consortium of nationally prominent ocean science and technology institutions and experts who provide credible performance data of these technologies through third-party, objective testing. ACT technology verifications include laboratory and field tests over short- and long-term deployments of commercial technologies in diverse environments to provide unequivocal, unbiased confirmation that technologies meet key performance requirements. ACT demonstrations of new technologies validate the technology concept and help eliminate performance problems before operational introduction. ACT’s most recent demonstration of pCO2 sensors is an example of how ACT advances the evolution of ocean observing technologies, in this case to address the critical issue of ocean acidification, and promotes more informed decision making on technology capabilities and choices.

This paper draws from recent workshops held by the Alliance for Coastal Technologies to summarize the present status of sensors and sensor platforms for making physical oceanographic observations. Technologies reviewed include those for current measurements, HF Radar, wave sensors, drifting buoys, profiling floats, surface meteorological observations, and automated vessel-based systems, as well as related issues of data telemetry and biofouling.

As regulations governing the discharge of living organisms in ships' ballast water enter into force, tools to rapidly and easily measure compliance with the discharge standards will be essential. To assess, validate, and select compliance tools, a framework-consisting of three parts-is presented: proof-of-concept, validation and verification, and final selection stages. Next, a case study describing the proof-of-concept stage is discussed. Specifically, variable fluorescence was evaluated as an approach for determining compliance with the discharge standard for living organisms ⩾10 μm and

Before the feasibility of ocean sequestration of anthropogenic carbon dioxide can be evaluated completely, there is a clear need to better understand the potential biological impacts of CO2-enriched (low pH and high pCO2) seawater in regions of proposed disposal. We describe here the first empirical study directly examining animal responses to dissolving CO2 hydrates on the deep-sea floor. Using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to conduct experiments within Monterey Canyon, CA, we found that several species (both invertebrate and vertebrate) did not avoid rapidly dissolving flocculent hydrates when attracted by the scent of food. Furthermore, while there were no apparent short-term effects of decreased pH, mobile animals appeared to suffer from respiratory distress due to increased pCO2 when in close proximity to hydrates. Losses of higher organisms as a result of CO2 disposal in the deep-sea may therefore be more extensive than previously predicted from toxicological models. However, the extent of changes to surrounding seawater chemistry, and thus biological impact, is largely dependent on CO2 release method or the type of hydrate formed.

Planktonic cnidarians are principal predators in the vast habitats between the ocean's surface and the deep-sea floor. Almost nothing is known, however, about the chemical ecology of these fragile midwater animals because of difficulties associated with collecting healthy specimens and con-ducting experiments in the field. With the use of a remotely operated vehicle, we found that the hydromedusa Mitrocoma cellularia is not a passive “drift-net” predator. This relatively simple gelatinous organism reacted to both the taste and smell of prey in the laboratory and in situ. Our results comprise the first definitive demonstration that a species of pelagic cnidarian responds behaviorally to chemical signals, and they lend new insight into the role of chemoreception in structuring mid-water communities.

Many deep-sea animals derive part of their nutrition from rare and unpredictable food falls. However, traits that allow organisms inhabiting the sea floor to exploit carrion are poorly understood. We found in laboratory experiments that hagfish (Eptatretus stouti), gastropods (Neptunea amianta) and amphipods (Orchomene obtusus) survived extended periods of starvation, in some cases for more than a year. When exposed to odors emitted from carrion, most individuals of E. stouti and O. obtusus began searching for food within seconds, whereas none responded to the scent of the live prey. In contrast, the slow crawling N. amianta readily consumed carrion but showed no apparent response to any odor solutions tested. Because more motile animals exhibited lower thresholds for response to signal molecules, sensitivity to chemical cues appears related to species mobility. Hagfish were also found to defend carrion from some competitors by releasing slime when feeding. Though varying dramatically in size, morphology, locomotive ability, and phylogeny, these three species all possess traits well suited for a scavenging lifestyle.

Oysters (Crassostrea virginica) are valuable subjects for investigations of basic mechanisms regulating suspension feeding on invertebrate larvae. In separate laboratory experiments, we introduced inert particles or larvae to the oyster mantle cavity. Small inert particles ( 100~pm diam) equal to larvae in size were rejected. Neither particle specific gravity nor phytoplankton in the seawater medium affected ingestion of inert particles or larvae. Oysters consumed a wide range of invertebrate larval forms, including conspecific veligers. Nearly all larvae (> 75%) delivered to the oyster mantle cavity, except those of Bug&a neritina, were eaten and digested. Feeding stimulants in the larvae were a mixture of polar and nonpolar compounds that were insoluble in seawater. Although contrasting mechanisms regulated fteding on different-sized particles, ingestion of larvae was strictly controlled by particle surface chemistry (=flavor).

Planktonic oyster larvae (Crassostreu virginica) respond behaviorally to waterborne chemical cues and rapidly settle on substratum. “Settlement” is defined here as attachment of the larval foot to the substrate. Although a topic of considerable research for the past 50 yr, the identity of these cues remains unresolved. We provide four lines of experimental evidence all pointing to the singular identity of these substances. First, molecular-weight fractionations of seawater used to bathe adult oysters (with intact biofilms) were bioassayed, indicating the presence of waterborne settlement inducers between 500 and 1,000 Da. The inducers were degraded by proteases but not by carbohydrases or by lipase. Of several proteases we applied, only those cleaving basic amino acids (lysine and arginine) from the C-terminal and arginase (an enzyme condensing arginine at the C-terminal to ornithine) eliminated settlement-inducing activity. Second, trypsin hydrolysates of casein were significantly more effective in causing larval settlement than products of either acid or pronase hydrolysis of this protein. Third, a tri-peptide having arginine at the C-terminal, glycyl-glycyl+arginine (hereafter referred to as GGR), evoked settlement at a concentration as low as lo-lo M. Dose-response curves for GGR and for the active fraction (500-1,000 Da) of oyster bath water were essentially identical. Fourth, tests of 21 free amino acids identified only lysine and arginine as settlement cues. Larval settlers were far more sensitive to arginine than lysine but significantly less sensitive to arginine than to peptides with arginine at the C-terminal. Our combined results are all consistent in identifying low-molecular-weight peptides with arginine at the C-terminal as the natural, water-soluble cues inducing oyster settlement.

The Davidson Seamount is located 120 km to the southwest of Monterey, along the California coast, USA. It is 2,400 m tall; yet, it is still 1,250 m below the sea surface. In May 2002, 90 hours of digital video was recorded from all depths of the Davidson Seamount, using a remotely operated vehicle, and deep-sea coral specimens were collected. Preliminary analyses indicate that 20 coral taxa were found, and they were almost exclusively located in high relief, ridge areas. Other species were noted on or adjacent to the corals. Because of its pristine nature, as well as human threats and great potential for education, the Davidson Seamount is under consideration for protection as part of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.