CARICOOS extends its collaboration with the Jobos Bay NERRS

Following up on over a decade of collaboration with the Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (JBNERR), CARICOOS has commenced an effort focused on understanding the connectivity/steep biogeochemical gradients observed between mangrove lagoons, coastal waters and the open ocean using a flow-thru system that allows sampling surface waters throughout Jobos Bay. The results from the… Read More

Outlook of 2020 Sargassum blooms in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico* January 31st, 2020, by University of South Florida Optical Oceanography Lab

The situation in January 2020 has changed dramatically from December 2019. Although the Sargassum amount in the Central West Atlantic (CWA, i.e., the region east of the Lesser Antilles in the maps here) is still low as compared to some bloom years in history (2015, 2018, 2019), there isconsiderable increase from December 2019. In the… Read More

A Major Swell Event to Impact the Caribbean

A very large wave event with deep water wave heights of 10-13 feet and wave periods of 14-16 seconds will be affecting our region starting Saturday night, peaking Sunday morning, and continuing to generate large waves through Monday. This event could generate breaking waves of 15-20 feet or more as well as coastal erosion and… Read More

How waves propagate in coral reefs?

CARICOOS and UPRM scientists, in partnership with the US Geological Survey and the Tres Palmas Marine Reserve Management Board, installed several wave gauges across the seabed in Tres Palmas to measure the extreme wave event of January 19-20, 2020. The USGS is partnering with the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez (UPR-M) to better understand how waves… Read More

CARICOOS Board of Directors fully engaged in securing continued support for meeting high priority coastal data and product needs.

On November 7, 2019 the CARICOOS Board of Directors met with the system’s technical and administrative leadership to discuss and agree on approaches to follow towards a comprehensive stakeholder need assessment and prioritization process. Said need assessment is essential for the design of the proposal requesting support for the upcoming five-year funding cycle.  CARICOOS’s Board,… Read More

2019 Underwater Gliders Successfully Recovered

As during previous seasons since 2014,  autonomous underwater vehicles, also known as gliders, were deployed in the Caribbean Sea and in the Atlantic Ocean to collect data on ocean properties for use in the improvement of hurricane intensity forecasts. During the mission the NOAA AOML gliders were capable to successfully occupy  transects in eastern Caribbean… Read More

Outlook of 2019 Sargassum blooms in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico – December 1, 2019

The maps above show Sargassum abundance, with warm colors representing high abundance. November 2019 continued the situation of October 2019. Very little Sargassum was found in the Gulfof Mexico (GOM), Florida straits, Caribbean Sea (CS), and Central West Atlantic (CWA). In all regionscombined, the Sargassum amount reduced to ~0.5 million metric tons in November 2019… Read More

High school students learn about waves and the correct use of wave data and forecasts

In collaboration with Puerto Rico Sea Grant (PRSG) CARICOOS has developed a “Waves Workshop” focused on educating K12 students and teachers on wave concepts and terminology. Sea Grant curriculum specialist, Delmis Alicea, PhD., has been advising CARICOOS staff on the importance of educational strategies and of assessing the learning progress following the Department of Education… Read More

Sargassum outlook update, by USF Optical Oceanography Lab-September 30, 2019 update

The maps below show Sargassum abundance, with warm colors representing high abundance. During September 2019, Sargassum amount has decreased significantly from August 2019 in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), Florida straits, Caribbean Sea (CS), and Central West Atlantic (CWA). The reductions are more than our August 2019 prediction, at rates higher than previous bloom years…. Read More