Due to the usual e-mail glitches some of you were unable to read the
press release concerning the dismantling of the Sand Key station sent by
J. Ogden yesterday. I am resending it is what I hope is a more readable
format. Please let me know if you still get a garbled message.
FLORIDA INSTITUTE OF OCEANOGRAPHY
University of South Florida
St. Petersburg
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 25, 1995
SEAKEYS TO LOSE WEATHER AND OCEANOGRAPHIC
MONITORING STATION AT KEY WEST
The NOAA National Data Buoy Center (NDBC), a branch of the National Weather Service, will
dismantle the weather and oceanographic monitoring station at Sand Key south of Key West
before the end of November. This action is the first in a series of cost-cutting measures that will
compromise the capabilities of the remaining 5 similar stations purchased by the Florida Institute
of Oceanography (FIO) and installed under a cooperative agreement with NDBC to monitor
Florida's reefs. The other stations are located at Fowey Rocks, Molasses Reef, Sombrero Reef,
the Dry Tortugas and Florida Bay. The stations cost approximately $85,000 each for installation
and are maintained and operated by two technicians located at the Keys Marine Laboratory in
Long Key and the NDBC. The total annual budget for maintenance of both the oceanographic
and meteorological portions of the stations is $300,000.
The FIO, a consortium of the State University System, installed the stations as part of its
Macarthur Foundation-funded SEAKEYS monitoring program in 1989. The SEAKEYS Program
scientists at cooperating universities documented the decline of Keys coral reefs, the impact of
sewage on nearshore waters, and the connection between Florida Bay and the coral reef tract.
In addition to supporting this effort, the stations provide useful information on weather and ocean
conditions to the general public, Sanctuary personnel, the Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP), the Marine Patrol, dive operators, fishing guides, and federal and state
agencies. The solar-powered and satellite-linked stations provided a unique regional profile of
Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and the Great Winter Storm of 1993 and documented annual winter
cold fronts and summer calms leading to high water temperatures which are implicated in coral
bleaching. They also recorded dramatically lowered salinity in the Keys from the 1993 summer
floods along the Mississippi River.
Recognizing the need for the information, the National Weather Service has funded the
continuation of the meteorological component of the stations at Fowey, Molasses, Sombrero and
the Dry Tortugas. NOAA through the Sanctuary and the DEP have provided interim funding
until March 1996 for the oceanographic sensors at these same stations. However, there are no
further funds available for Sand Key and the fate of the remaining Florida Bay station will be
decided in the coming months.
FIO PRESS RELEASE
PAGE 2/2
The loss of the Sand Key station will compromise the Keys-wide oceanographic observations
coordinated by the FIO and will damage the development of oceanographic observational
capabilities basic to adaptive management. Should permanent funding not become available for
maintenance of both the meteorological and oceanographic portions of the remaining stations, the
investment of well over $1 million will be lost at the very time when the data are most needed
for the complex monitoring, management, and research plans now being implemented in Florida
Bay and in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
John C. Ogden, Director
or
Dr. Sandra Vargo, Assistant Director
Florida Institute of Oceanography
830 First Street South
St. Petersburg Florida 33701
813-893-9109
813-893-9109 (fax)