NOAA Coral Reef Monitoring Program Dives in St. Croix
Curious dolphins enter the area within a diver's reef visual census survey in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.
NOAA recently completed a two-week sampling mission from June 12-23, 2017 in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, collecting survey data on fish and benthic communities around the island for the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP).
Over 30 scientists and students from partner agencies participated in this mission including the National Park Service, Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources, NOAA’s Office of Restoration, University of the Virgin Islands and the University of Puerto Rico. A total of 179 sites were monitored for fish communities, including detailed benthic surveys in 169 of those sites.
NCRMP collects biological, physical and socioeconomic monitoring throughout all U.S. coral reef jurisdictions. The National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) co-leads the biological monitoring component in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico with the National Marine Fisheries Service. NCRMP is a core component of NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program and the monitoring data will provide information about the status and trends of environmental conditions, living reef resources and the people and processes that interact with coral reefs. For more information, contact Kimberly Edwards, kimberly.edwards@noaa.gov.
