When the phone rings at OR&R’s Emergency Response Division, it’s usually for an oil spill — but not always. OR&R supports incident responses in a number of ways, one of which is to provide trajectories and model where the oil will go. But what about for something other than oil? What happens when one of the ocean’s largest inhabitants washes up on shore? OR&R’s modeling capabilities are again called upon to help decide what to do next.
A Changing Landscape: Mapping Glacier Bay to Protect Coastal Resourcesalyssa.grayWed, 06/26/2019 - 17:12
A remnant of the Ice Age, Glacier Bay Park and Preserve sits between the Gulf of Alaska and Canada at the northernmost section of the southeastern Alaska coastline. As its name suggests, Glacier Bay is home to thousands of glaciers, though centuries ago, a single tidewater glacier stretched across the whole of Glacier Bay. By the mid-18th century, the ice began to retreat and has continued to withdraw nearly 60 miles in total over the past two and a half centuries.
By Megan Ewald, Office of Response and Restoration
This feature is part of a monthly series profiling scientists and technicians who provide exemplary contributions to the mission of NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R). This month’s featured scientist is Ben Shorr, a physical scientist in OR&R’s Assessment and Restoration Division.
By Megan Ewald, Office of Response and Restoration
Few animals capture the human imagination like sea turtles. Sea turtles are living fossils, they have glided through the Earth’s oceans for over 110 million years. But today, sea turtles face new, human-caused threats that put all seven species at risk of extinction. One of these threats is oil spills.
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 15 incidents, including oil discharges, sunken vessels, and three gray whale carcasses.
