As the U.S. Coast Guard prepares to celebrate its 228th birthday, we’d like to show our appreciation to them for all their hard work in helping us fight the threat of marine pollution.

The U.S. Coast Guard and NOAA have a long history of collaboration. While the U.S. Coast Guard continues ahead on a journey to keep our coastal waters clean of marine pollution, NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration is right by their side to provide the scientific support to help them do it.

For many, the first thing that comes to mind when they think of oil spills is an image of great big oil sheens in the middle of the ocean, tarballs washing up on beaches, and photos of oiled wildlife on the internet. Marine pollution on the whole might also bring to mind an image of sandy beaches littered with plastic bottles and other marine debris — or perhaps even a “garbage island” floating out in open sea.

This is the 10th in 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 Lieutenant Michael Doig, a scientific support coordinator (SSC) in OR&R’s Emergency Response Division.

Participating in training and oil spill exercises is a great way for NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) to maintain and improve our spill response and natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) capabilities. That’s why we’re constantly seeking opportunities to collaborate with our federal, state, and industry partners to advance our application of science and technology, improve our capacity to respond, and strengthen our partnerships.

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 16 incidents, including oil discharges, sunken vessels, and hazardous material releases.

Here are some of June’s notable incidents ...

This is the fifth blog in a week-long series to highlight the importance of disaster preparedness. Follow us this week as we take a look at how NOAA prepares for natural and human-made disasters, and how you can prepare for the 2018 hurricane season. Share your #DisasterPreparedness strategy by commenting on our blog, or replying to our Twitter and Facebook.

This week, we're taking a look at how pollution travels. Whether it be a plastic bottle riding an ocean current thousands of miles away, or hazardous material working its way up an ecosystem, pollution often has a way of spreading. In this blog from OR&R's Marine Debris Program, learn about how disaster like hurricanes can cause marine debris, and how you can prevent it. Learn more about how pollution travels on our website.

This is the third blog in a week-long series to highlight the importance of disaster preparedness. Follow us this week as we take a look at how NOAA prepares for natural and human-made disasters, and how you can prepare for the 2018 hurricane season. Share your #DisasterPreparedness strategy by commenting on our blog, or replying to our Twitter and Facebook.