Sargassum outlook update, by USF Optical Oceanography Lab – February 2019

In 2018, the Caribbean Sea (CS) has experienced a record-high and prolonged Sargassum bloom. The maps below show Sargassum abundance, with warm colors representing high abundance. In Feb 2019, similar amounts as in Feb 2018 appeared in the eastern CS, but amounts in the Central West Atlantic (CWA) were lower. Meanwhile, large amounts of Sargassum… Read More

CARICOOS & The North Coast Harbor Safety and Security Meeting

The Caribbean Coastal Ocean Observing System was invited to the February 2019 meeting of the North Coast Harbor Safety and Security Committee, where we presented on the tools available in our website (caricoos.org) to track Sargasso in the Caribbean region. Recent reports and research conducted by the University of South Florida reveal that if growth… Read More

CARICOOS Collaboration with PRAGWATER

“The purpose of this email is to thank you and the CARICOOS group for providing me with wind speed,  air temperature and relative humidity data from the  1-km CARICOOS WRF model.  These data are used in our operational water and energy balance model for Puerto Rico  GOES-PRWEB. The daily results are available to the public… Read More Wind Speed

Sargassum outlook update, by USF Optical Oceanography Lab – December 2018

The maps below show Sargassum abundance, with warm colors representing high abundance. In December 2018, the bloom intensity in the Caribbean Sea (CS) continued to decrease slightly from November, but the amount of Sargassum in the Central West Atlantic (CWA) increased slightly from November, which also represented a historical record for the month of November…. Read More

Boats and Apps

The Caribbean Ocean Observing System (CARICOOS) provides observations and forecasts about wind, wave, tides, currents, ocean color, among other parameters. This information is a very important tool for decision making. In fact, CARICOOS have become the main source of information when planning marine operations, scuba diving tours, boating or your next day at the beach…. Read More

Sargassum outlook – November 2018 update, by USF Optical Oceanography Lab

So far the Caribbean Sea (CS) has experienced a record-high Sargassum bloom ever since January 2018. The maps below show Sargassum abundance, with warm colors representing high abundance. In November 2018, the bloom intensity continued to decrease in the CS, but still comparable to the bloom extent in November 2015. There is also significant amount… Read More Sargassum

OCOVI announces 2018 Annual Meeting

The public is advised that Ocean and Coastal Observing – Virgin Islands (OCOVI), will conduct it 2018 annual meeting on December 8th from 11:00 AM to 1:30 PM for the filling of vacancies, the election of the officers and for the transaction of such other business as may properly come before the meeting. The public… Read More

CARICOOS’ St. John Buoy recovered for upgrades

November 27, 2018. The longest-serving CARICOOS buoy in USVI waters, designated by the National Data Buoy Center as #41052, has been recovered so that new batteries and other updated instrument parts can be replaced. This buoy survived the fury of both hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. Used heavily by fishers, ferries, cruise ships, meteorologists… Read More