[Coral-List] SEAKEYS Project Terminated

[Jim Hendee]

I don't know...maybe ask the Florida legislature to make it a line-item to
the budget?  Write proposals?  I wish I knew!

On Tue, Mar 6, 2012 at 12:40 PM, Sarah Frias-Torres <
sfrias_torres at hotmail.com> wrote:

>  It seems the coral reefs have no voice and no CEOs to demand a bailout.
>
> Is there anything the scientific community can do to reverse this decision
> ?
>
> *Sarah Frias-Torres, Ph.D. *
> *Schmidt Ocean Institute Postdoctoral Fellow<http://independent.academia.edu/SarahFriasTorres>
> *
> Ocean Research & Conservation Association (ORCA)
> 1420 Seaway Drive, Fort Pierce, Florida 34949 USA
> Tel (772) 467-1600
> *http://www.teamorca.org<http://independent.academia.edu/SarahFriasTorres>
> *
> *http://independent.academia.edu/SarahFriasTorres*
>
>
>
> > From: jim.hendee at noaa.gov
> > Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2012 11:43:43 -0500
> > To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>
> > Subject: [Coral-List] SEAKEYS Project Terminated
> >
> > This sad bit of news comes from a recent SECOORA (Southeast Coastal Ocean
> > Observing Regional Association) bulletin. The station referred to that
> > AOML will maintain is located on the Molasses Reef lighthouse.
> >
> >
> > *SEAKEYS Assets Removed from Water*
> >
> >
> > **
> >
> > The SEAKEYS network has been operational for over 20 years and provides a
> > long time series of observations in the Florida Keys. The program
> provides
> > a framework for long-term monitoring and research along the 220 mile
> > Florida coral reef tract and in Florida Bay at a geographical scale
> > encompassing the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS).
> > Compounding the problem of limited funding, the instruments are primarily
> > on a series of stationary platforms (lighthouses, towers), the structural
> > integrity of which has now becoming questionable due to age. The US Coast
> > Guard do not have plans to repair the lighthouses but intend to sell. It
> is
> > anticipated that non-profit entities will purchase these for their
> > historical value.
> >
> >
> >
> > To address the future of SEAKEYS and its infrastructure and funding, the
> > Florida Institute of Oceanography (FIO) held a meeting at the Keys Marine
> > Lab in November 2011. The user community was invited and included
> > representatives from many areas of NOAA (Florida Keys National Marine
> > Sanctuary; National Weather Service; Atlantic Oceanographic and
> > Meteorological Laboratory; Great Lakes Environmental Research
> Laboratory),
> > the National Park Service, the Ocean Reef and Gun Club, and FIO. The
> > NOAA/National Data Buoy Center, Coast Guard, FL Fish and Wildlife
> Research
> > Institute, and representatives from Audubon, the dive and fishing
> > communities, and staff from a local legislative office were unable to
> > attend, but some sent letters of support. Following the meeting other
> > funding sources were sought but were not successfully identified.
> >
> >
> > At the end of 2011, due to a lack of financial support, FIO made the
> > difficult decision to terminate the SEAKEYS program, and are withdrawing
> > all FIO assets from the water. NOAA/AOML, with assistance from
> NOAA/FKNMS,
> > has agreed to take over maintenance of one station (FIO is loaning an
> > instrument to NOAA/AOML for this purpose); NOAA/GLERL are investigating
> the
> > possibility of maintaining a second station; and a limited subset of
> > meteorological sensors will be visited every two years by NOAA/NDBC, with
> > no maintenance support between visits.
> > _______________________________________________
> > Coral-List mailing list
> > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> > http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>