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

The maps below show Sargassum abundance, with warm colors representing high abundance. On Feb 28th we predicted that during March 2019 large amounts of Sargassum would continue to be found in the entire Caribbean Sea (CS) and around Loop Current (LC), and during April 2019 the amount of “new” Sargassum transported from the Central West… Read More

NOAA Deputy Administrator visits Puerto Rico

The Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Deputy Administrator at NOAA,Rear AdmiralTimothy Gallaudet, visited Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (JBNERR) to learn more about CARICOOS, Puerto Rico Sea Grant, Department of Natural and Environmental Resources and JBNERR programs.  Both, the CARICOOS Director (Julio Morell) and the Board Chairman (Ruperto Chaparro) shared… Read More

CARICOOS OUTREACH TEAM REACHING STUDENTS AND TEACHERS AT THE ASLO 2019 AQUATIC SCIENCES MEETING

CARICOOS participated in the ASLO 2019 Education Fair, promoting knowledge of coastal ocean observing to local middle school and high school students and teachers. During the educational activity enthusiastic participants received demonstrations and materials to learn about ocean observing science and the platforms used to provide the real-time observational data. In addition, teachers were provided… Read More

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