Monitoring reefs in the Dry Tortugas

Dry Tortugas National Park offers researchers a relatively pristine environment for studying climate impacts on coral reefs. Credit: NOAA AOML

A new video by the ANGARI Foundation, focuses on the efforts of NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorlogical Laboratory coral researchers to document climate-driven impacts–thermal stress, ocean acidification, and ecological changes–at coral reefs in the Dry Tortugas. The video features the team of Nicole Besemer, Nate Formel, Graham Kolodziej, Anderson Mayfield, and Patrick Kiel, who visited Dry Tortugas National Park, on the edge of Florida Key National Marine Sanctuary, in June 2021. Over the course of several days, the team collected data and recovered/replaced climate and coral monitoring instruments in support of NOAA’s National Coral Reef Monitoring Program. As part of the program, AOML leads monitoring efforts in the Atlantic Ocean to document in-situ climate change and ocean acidification.

Read more and see the video at the link below.