Lagrangian drifters are oceanographic devices used to study circulation patterns in the ocean. The devices are typically passive, which means that they have no actuators to initiate motion. They are mainly driven by the ocean currents. A drifter, as depicted in Fig. 1, in principle consists of a surface float and a drogue connected via tether. The surface float provides the necessary buoyancy t...

Precipitation pulses are essential for the regeneration of drylands and have been shown to be related to oceanographic anomalies. However, whereas some studies report increased precipitation in drylands in northern Mexico during El Niño years, others report increased drought in the southern drylands. To elucidate the effect of oceanographic/atmospheric anomalies on moisture pulses along the who...

Despite sporadic observations of the vase tunicate, Ciona intestinalis, on boats and mooring structures in Charlottetown Harbour, Prince Edward Island, the species has not established a population in the harbour nor dispersed the ~12 km downstream to Hillsborough Bay, an important source of blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) spat for the PEI aquaculture industry. A population matrix model used in con...

The new pelagic Operational Observatory of the Catalan Sea (OOCS) for the coordinated multisensor measurement of atmospheric and oceanographic conditions has been recently installed (2009) in the Catalan Sea (41°39'N, 2°54'E; Western Mediterranean) and continuously operated (with minor maintenance gaps) until today. This multiparametric platform is moored at 192 m depth, 9.3 km off Blanes harbo...

The ADRICOSM project was launched in October 2001, and ended in March 2005, with the main objective of demonstrating the feasibility of a near real time operational marine monitoring and forecasting system at the shelf and coastal scales, with connections to river basin runoff and coastal town sewer systems. The basic system consisted of an efficient network for the collection of marine data su...

The United States Virgin Islands are comprised of two separate insular platforms separated by the deep water Anegada Passage. Although managed by the same regulations, as one fishery, several physical and spatial differences exist between the two northern shelf islands, St. Thomas and St. John, and isolated St. Croix. Based on two long-term fisheries independent datasets, collected by the U.S. ...

Major oil spills can have long-term impacts since oil pollution does not only result in acute mortality of marine organisms, but also affects productivity levels, predator-prey dynamics, and damages habitats that support marine communities. However, despite the conservation implications of oil accidents, the monitoring and assessment of its lasting impacts still remains a difficult and daunting...