Ship-based contributions to global ocean, weather, and climate observing systems

The role ships play in atmospheric, oceanic, and biogeochemical observations is described with a focus on measurements made within 100 m of the ocean surface. Ships include merchant and research vessels, cruise liners and ferries, fishing vessels, coast guard, military, and other government-operated ships, yachts, and a growing fleet of automated surface vessels. The present capabilities of ships to measure essential climate/ocean variables and the requirements from a broad community to address operational, commercial, and scientific needs are described. Following the guidance from the OceanObs'19 organizing committee, the authors provide a vision to expand observations needed from ships to understand and forecast the exchanges across the ocean-atmosphere interface. The vision addresses (1) recruiting vessels to improve both spatial and temporal sampling, (2) conducting multi-variate sampling on ships, (3) raising technology readiness levels of automated shipboard sensors and ship-to-shore data communications, (4) advancing quality evaluation of observations, and (5) developing a unified data management approach for observations and metadata that meets the needs of a diverse user community. Recommendations are made focusing on integrating private and autonomous vessels into the observing system, investing in sensor and communications technology development, developing an integrated data management structure that includes all types of ships, and moving towards a quality evaluation process that will result in a subset of ships being defined as mobile reference ships that will support climate studies. We envision a future where commercial, research, and privately-owned vessels are making multivariate observations using a combination of automated and human-observed measurements. All data and metadata will be documented, tracked, evaluated, distributed, and archived to benefit users of marine data. This vision looks at ships as a holistic network, not a set of disparate commercial, research, and/or third-party activities working in isolation, to bring these communities together for the mutual benefit of all

Principles for transformative ocean governance

With a focus on oceans, we collaborated across ecological, social and legal disciplines to respond to the United Nations call for transformation in the ‘2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’. We developed a set of 13 principles that strategically and critically connect transformative ocean research to transformative ocean governance (complementing the UN Decade for Ocean Science). We used a rigorous, iterative and transparent consensus-building approach to define the principles, which can interact in supporting, neutral or sometimes conflicting ways. We recommend that the principles could be applied as a comprehensive set and discuss how to learn from their interactions, particularly those that reveal hidden tensions. The principles can bring and keep together partnerships for innovative ocean action. This action must respond to the many calls to reform current ocean-use practices which are based on economic growth models that have perpetuated inequities and fuelled conflict and environmental decline

Management of reef resources : Pohnpei Island, Federated States of Micronesia

M. A. University of Hawaii at Manoa 1986Includes bibliographical references (leaves 159-165).M.A

Coral Reef Recovery Subsequent to the Freshwater Kill of 1965

The reef coral community on the landward side of a patch reef near Kahaluu in Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, Hawaii was resurveyed 18 yr after all live coral was killed by a thick lens of freshwater runoff from a flashflood in 1965. The initial phase of recovery of the reef was documented from 1968 to 1973. A resurvey of the reef was conducted in 1983, using the same methods as the 1973 study. Species, abundance, and distribution of corals on the patch reef were measured and recorded along a series of 10 transects. Results show large increases in size and numbers of colonies, area, and depth range covered by corals. Greatest coral abundance was reported in the upper 5 m, but community diversity did not increase because the fast-growing finger coral, Porites compressa, became more dominant. The pattern of coral community succession at this sheltered location was similar to that observed at other environments in the Hawaiian Archipelago. Recovery appears to be rapid in protected, low-wave-energy environments such as Kaneohe Bay, which are infrequently affected by major disturbances. Almost 20 yr after major disturbance, the Kahaluu patch reef slope coral community is approaching the climax conditions of other reef slope communities in Kaneohe Bay not disturbed by the 1965 flashflood

Principles for transformative ocean governance

With a focus on oceans, we collaborated across ecological, social and legal disciplines to respond to the United Nations call for transformation in the ‘2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’. We developed a set of 13 principles that strategically and critically connect transformative ocean research to transformative ocean governance (complementing the UN Decade for Ocean Science). We used a rigorous, iterative and transparent consensus-building approach to define the principles, which can interact in supporting, neutral or sometimes conflicting ways. We recommend that the principles could be applied as a comprehensive set and discuss how to learn from their interactions, particularly those that reveal hidden tensions. The principles can bring and keep together partnerships for innovative ocean action. This action must respond to the many calls to reform current ocean-use practices which are based on economic growth models that have perpetuated inequities and fuelled conflict and environmental decline