[Coral-List] 2nd Call - Requesting Data on 2005 Caribbean Bleaching

[Jessica A. Morgan]

   TO:                  Bleaching Observation Contributors

   FROM:            Jessica Morgan and Mark Eakin, NOAA Coral Reef Watch



   Second  call:  Deadline  for  data  submission  to  be included in our
   publication is Friday, February 3.  Please contact me if you will have
   any problems meeting this deadline.
   ---------------------------
   As  you  know, bleaching reports from contributors have been coming in
   from  much  of the Caribbean and western North Atlantic.  The US Coral
   Reef Task Force (USCRTF) Bleaching Committee has held conference calls
   to  bring  together  and solicit input from NOAA and DOI personnel, as
   well  as  other  federal  agencies,  NGO partners, and local Caribbean
   scientists and managers.  The outcomes of the initial meetings include
   the  development  of a 3-phase response approach (including an initial
   response,   near-term   reporting   and   assessment,   and  long-term
   monitoring) and identification of key partners, resources, and issues.

   A part of the first phase is to identify and assess bleaching severity
   throughout  the region.  I am collating these reports with the plan to
   produce  a  multi-author,  quick  paper  to  Science  or  Nature  that
   documents  the  event.   From  there, I am sure that more publications
   will follow.  Everyone who provides data that are used in the analysis
   of  the event will be included as an author on the resulting paper(s).
    Our   intent  is  to  provide  the  broad,  Caribbean-wide  analysis,
   comparing  the  thermal  stress  recorded  from  satellites with local
   observations  of  bleaching  and  temperatures.  That publication will
   only  include  summaries  of the information that you submit.  We hope
   that  all  of our collaborators will produce more detailed national or
   local  analyses  to further document the event.  At this point we have
   almost   1000   observations  contributed  by  70  individuals  in  18
   jurisdictions.

   To  collect the details needed for the first analysis and to establish
   a baseline for follow-up work, a spreadsheet questionnaire ("CRW Carib
   Bleach  Report  Form")  has  been developed for bleaching reports.  We
   would like to invite all ReefBase contributors who have made bleaching
   observations  for  the  Caribbean  in 2005 to expand upon the original
   ReefBase  information by submitting a more quantitative report via the
   attached  questionnaire (an Excel file) to [1]coralreefwatch at noaa.gov.
    Please  note  that  we are only seeking quantitative reports for this
   analysis.

   The blank questionnaire form, along with information from the US Coral
   Reef  Task  Force, NOAA meetings held to date, and more, are available
   for download at the website
   [2]http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/caribbean2005.
   Thanks to all of you for your help,

   Jessica
--
Jessica A. Morgan
Operations Manager, NOAA Coral Reef Watch
SSMC1, E/RA 31, Rm. 5309, Silver Spring, MD 20910
Phone: (301) 713-2857 x129      Fax: (301) 713-3136
Email: [3]Jessica.Morgan at noaa.gov  Web: coralreefwatch.noaa.gov

References

   1. mailto:coralreefwatch at noaa.gov
   2. http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/caribbean2005
   3. mailto:Jessica.Morgan at noaa.gov