Friday, June 9, 2006

Little Cayman Research Centre from the water.

Central Caribbean Marine Institute (CCMI) and its research centre on Little Cayman are entering into a partnership with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) through an international project to monitor coral reefs globally.  

This project is the Integrated Coral Observing Network (ICON), and its partnership with CCMI will provide long-term data sets for Little Cayman that can be compared to all major US coral reef areas, according to information issued by CCMI.

It will also provide near real-time feedback on conditions conducive to coral bleaching, as well as other coral reef models, and provide a platform for advanced analysis of the coral reef environment in near real-time.

CCMI President, Dr Carrie Manfrino, told Cayman Net News what this partnership means for CCMI and the Little Cayman Research Centre (LCRC).

"Dr Jim Hendee (NOAA Coral Health and Monitoring Program) and I have been working together on this effort since 2002. It was always CCMI's belief that the LCRC should have links to major institutional research support."

She said that, in the early days of planning for the LCRC, she had developed the idea of having an Ocean Observatory so that the Cayman community and youth could relate to the important work that scientists actually do on a day to day basis.

"The Partnership between CCMI and the NOAA is the realization of this idea and has major implications for CCMI's efforts. It also provides important funding opportunities that will benefit the Cayman Islands economy."

According to CCMI, NOAA approved Little Cayman Research Centre for the installation of an ICON Station. This will consist of an array of instruments to measure the physical and chemical characteristics of the ocean and atmosphere.

Data collected will include salinity, temperature, ultra-violet radiation penetration, water clarity, currents and weather conditions.

The release states that one of the major benefits of the ICON project is that observed long-term trends will allow local environmental managers and researchers to make better informed decisions for the reef area. Near real-time feedback is important because it allows researchers to visit a site right away to see if modeled conditions (for example bleaching and disease) are met, and also to give the coastal and coral managers a means of knowing more precisely the immediate status of the Park in question.

This helps them to make timely decisions relevant to the health of the reef. Through the CCMI/NOAA partnership, Little Cayman is now one of the international sites outside the US to be selected to have an ICON station for coral reef research. 

"The NOAA ICON website will provide information about our reefs that will be available to all divers, fishers, and individuals interested in knowing more about the reefs and oceanographic conditions at Little Cayman," says the release. 

"The data is of direct scientific importance because it provides NOAA National Environmental Satellite and Data Service with 'surface truthing' data for both coral reef and weather models that will help us better understand some of the major stressors on coral reefs today."

CCMI states: "We will be continuously transmitting data to the US Government's GOES Satellite System, which is part of NOAA's National Weather Service. 

"We anticipate this project becoming one of the major attractions for scientists and that it will subsequently increase the grant funding that would normally not be available to us in the Cayman Islands."

The organization claims this project will be instrumental in increasing technological capabilities in the Cayman Islands and the data will be available instantly through the World-Wide-Web and will be serviced by NOAA.

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