Every month OR&R’s Emergency Response Division provides scientific expertise and services to the U.S. Coast Guard on everything from running oil spill trajectories to model where the spill may spread, to possible effects on wildlife and fisheries and estimates on how long the oil may stay in the environment. This month OR&R responded to 12 incidents in February, including oil discharges, grounded vessels, and other pollution-related incidents.  

The state of Florida has the most coastline of any in the contiguous United States, from sandy beaches to subtropical islands, estuaries, mangroves, and everything in between. Protecting these critical coastal resources is a major task, and NOAA’s Environmental Sensitivity Index product is a crucial tool in the state’s belt. 

Every month OR&R's Emergency Response Division provides scientific expertise and services to the U.S. Coast Guard on everything from running oil spill trajectories to model where the spill may spread, to possible effects on wildlife and fisheries and estimates on how long the oil may stay in the environment. This month OR&R responded to eight incidents in January, including oil discharges, grounded vessels, and other pollution-related incidents.  

A whale breaching out of icy water, a sea turtle crawling onto the sandy shore to lay eggs, or a salmon swimming upriver to spawn, few species capture our hearts and imaginations more than protected species. However, it wasn’t until relatively recently that they were protected under U.S. law. 

A full-scale business continuity exercise occurred worldwide, in early 2020, when the coronavirus outbreak forced employees to work from home. While never before on this kind of scale, continuity of operations is not a new concept, evidenced by the protracted telework situation many of us still find ourselves in. However, continuity plans require review and need to be updated, which gives rise to the question, after 22 months of working from home, have you identified or assessed what hazards pose the greatest risk to your ability to safely continue to work from home? 

Every month our Emergency Response Division provides scientific expertise and services to the U.S. Coast Guard on everything from running oil spill trajectories to model where the spill may spread, to possible effects on wildlife and fisheries and estimates on how long the oil may stay in the environment. This month OR&R responded to 11 incidents in December, including oil discharges, grounded vessels, and other pollution-related incidents.  

 

It’s almost the end of the year and time to reflect on events. What a year, from the pandemic and teleworking, to wildfires and a record hurricane season. The “normal” emergency response activities that NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration deals with on a regular basis still took place, but under the unrelenting pressure of a challenging year for all. Despite the feelings of deja vu, emergencies continued to happen this year. Here is an updated summary of OR&R's Emergency Response Division responses for 2021 when, just as in previous years, the division provided scientific support to the U.S. Coast Guard in a wide range of scenarios—remotely when possible, and on-scene when needed.

Over the past year, NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration provided scientific support for six international spill responses. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, NOAA scientists were not able to go on scene; however, our improved capabilities to provide support ensured that our remote service continued to be effective. Among the products OR&R provided were oil fate and trajectory analyses, oil and debris cleanup recommendations, advice on marine mammal and sea turtle impacts, and satellite imagery.