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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJuly 2025 NPC MRC First DRAFT Meeting Summary NPC MRC 7/15/2025 DRAFT Meeting Summary 1 July 15, 2025 NPC MRC Draft Meeting Summary The Tuesday, July 15, 2025 NPC MRC meeting took place at the Peninsula College in Forks, WA and by Zoom connection from 4:00 PM to 5:45 PM. Appointed committee members present at the meeting were Eileen Cooney (Citizen Representative, Jefferson County - Economic Groups), Wendy Feltham (Citizen Representative, Jefferson County – Scientific Community), Rod Fleck (City of Forks), Tami Pokorny (Jefferson County Representative and NPC MRC Coordinator), Alice Ryan (Citizen Representative, Clallam County – Recreational Groups), and Jill Silver (Citizen Representative, Jefferson County– Conservation/Environmental Groups). A quorum was present at the beginning of the meeting. Rebekah Brooks (Rebekah Brooks Contracting), Zachary Randell (Seattle Aquarium), and Chris Waldbillig (Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife) were also in attendance. Introductions Public Comments There were no public comments. Additions to and Approval of the Agenda The agenda was accepted by consensus with no changes. Approval of the June NPC MRC Summary The June NPC MRC Summary was accepted by consensus as written. Announcements There were no announcements. Old Business There was no old business. New Business Seattle Aquarium Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Update Dr Zachary Randell, senior research scientist with the Seattle Aquarium, presented an update on the Seattle Aquarium’s’ ROV survey, analytical methods, and their desire to reengage along the outer coast. Zachary worked with the NPC MRC, Alice Ryan, and her students in 2022 and 2023, when the NPC MRC helped fund the Seattle Aquarium’s ROV testing and Artificial Intelligence (AI) analyses. At the time, they were right at the start of developing ROV underwater methods, with the objective of better understanding the marine environment of the outer coast. Several other grants enabled them to work in Puget Sound over the last couple of years. They have honed the methodology and their ROV methods have matured quite a bit. The Seattle Aquarium is very NPC MRC 7/15/2025 DRAFT Meeting Summary 2 interested in expanding the research to the outer coast using ROV methods and hopes to start connecting with the NPC MRC and other coastal entities to see if it would be useful to them to use the ROV to try to gather more information on coastal ecosystems. Zachary gave a high-level introduction to the ecological resilience of kelp off the outer coast of Washington, which has remained quite stable, even throughout the heat dome of 2021 that had such an impact on other marine life. It is possible that the water did not get quite as warm as it did elsewhere, or that sea otters have played a role in keeping sea urchins from creating urchin barrens, contributing to the stability of the kelp populations. The Seattle Aquarium has started preliminary outer coast ROV surveys, including a flight with Makah Fisheries a few weeks ago to look at the density of urchin barrens of off the east side of Tatoosh Island. Zachary is excited about the information they have been able to gather with their revamped methods. They are also hoping to continue outreach and education events with the Quileute Tribal School, and to expand the conservation and education learning department at Seatle Aquarium. He discussed their interest in building a coastal data collection toolkit that could be applied at different scales as ROVs have different access abilities that are separate from divers. The Seattle Aquarium ROV is operable off small vessels, which are not suitable for the outer coast, but are used in Puget Sound in nearshore shallow operations. ROV survey methods include lights and cameras and can cover 15 square meters of seafloor per minute. The current setup uses a command console with live feed and navigation information and puts out a lot of light to illuminate the seafloor. Zachary explained that the ROV and divers do not replace each other but have different applications. For example, an ROV cannot capture a kelp crab hiding under a leaf, but it can capture more information at a time. The cameras have very high-resolution methods, as the AI algorithm relies on good texture. Processing the imagery is the most time-consuming aspect, so they are currently training another AI algorithm to help process the imagery. The ROV is used to generate data on percent cover (for aggregate things that are not counted easily, such as algae and substrate type) and object detection (for conspicuous individuals). This is collected from downward- and forward-facing imagery. Along the outer coast, they would want to collect data by both the ROV and divers because while bull kelp and giant kelp forests are often impenetrable, the ROV can go longer and deeper. Zachary pointed out that all their data and algorithms are open source and available through CoralNet-Toolbox. They have made notable improvements in their survey methods, AI augmentations, and model performance. The algorithm is 96% accurate, meaning that AI can predict a randomly selected patch correctly 96% of the time. They use Generalized Linear Mixed Models (GLMM) for making formal statistical statements about the presence of different species, such as using winter substrate percent cover to predict summer algae percent cover by looking at the fine scale relationships between the substrate and vegetation. They have also built a Bull Kelp Habitat Suitability Model, a species distribution model that predicts the probability of finding bull kelp. One of the project goals is to keep the data as open source and open access as possible. Resources are available on GitHub, and anyone can make contributions to the software. They have developed custom-made programs for maintaining consistent velocity, elevation above the seafloor, and other issues, and are trying to develop a low- cost approach that is adaptable for others. The project is now at the point of starting conversations around where the work might be useful on the outer coast, and they would love to work out of Neah Bay and La Push. Coastwide and Outreach Project Ideas NPC MRC 7/15/2025 DRAFT Meeting Summary 3 Tami Pokorny noted that there was time, and perhaps some energy, to work on some outreach projects now that the request for proposals was completed and awarded. She invited the group to chime in with ideas. Ideas included connecting more with the other coastal MRCs, asking them to contribute to some of the more coastwide projects that are doing work further down the coast, bringing back the West End Natural Resources Newsletter, creating a coastwide storymap that could include material from the Newsletter, and bringing youth into science. Chris Waldbillig added that there could be some interest from the other coastal MRCs in working together on a shared storymap. Updates Coast MRC Update Chris Waldbillig said that there was less money than in years past. He will be working with Tami Pokorny and Rebecca Mahan on county facilitation for the NPC MRC. His time was cut a bit, but he is still available for questions. The next quarterly meeting with the coastal MRC coordinators was scheduled for next week; they will be talking about the upcoming Coast MRC Summit that Pacific MRC will be hosting. Pacific MRC still wants to hold the summit, even though there is no funding for it this year. Chris suggested that the MRCs could work together with fundraising and donation efforts. Washington Coastal Marine Advisory Council (WCMAC) The last meeting was held on 6/4/25 and contained an update on economic resiliency. Rod Fleck said that the steering committee would be meeting tomorrow, 7/16/25. The big issue was that a group of appointments were ending soon; the governor was alerted. They are also looking into hiring a consultant and facilitator as their current contract ended. The next meeting will be held in Grays Harbor on 10/1/25. The agenda and other WCMAC meeting materials can be found on the Ecology website: Department of Ecology - Committees, Boards, and Workgroups (wa.gov). Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council Chris Butler-Minor was not present for an update. The next meeting is scheduled for 7/18/25, location to be determined. West Coast Ocean Alliance Jennifer Hagen was not present for an update. Invasive European Green Crab There was nothing new to report. Marine Debris There was nothing new to report. Climate/Fossil Fuels Related There was nothing new to report. Administrative Update Tami Pokorny said that Clallam and Jefferson counties are in the process of deciding what is feasible for hosting and facilitating. Next Agenda (September 16, 2025): The next NPC MRC Meeting will be held on 9/16/25. There will be no NPC MRC meeting in August. Public Comments/General NPC MRC 7/15/2025 DRAFT Meeting Summary 4 Jill Silver said that 10,000 Years Institute has been doing a lot of work in Grays Harbor in dune environments in State parks, mapping, removing Scotch broom and gorse, and working with interns and staff. The communities there are concerned about fire danger. *She offered to present on the work to the NPC MRC if they were interested, as it is marine-related work. Alice Ryan said she had been accepted to speak at the Washington Conference of Science Education in October about the value of ROVs in rural schools and would like to highlight the role of the NPC MRC in the support of the program. She also noted that her team that took first place at the Navigator level wants to advance to the Ranger level. The Whidbey Island team offered to help train them. They will be competing in Tacoma this coming school year. Also, the Quileute Tribal School is an Ocean Guardian School and will be accepting their banner in September or October. *Alice offered to extend an invitation to the NPC MRC when the ceremony is scheduled. Adjourn at 5:45 PM Action Items *Jill Silver offered to present on the 10,000 Years Institute’s work removing Scotch broom and gorse in Grays Harbor dune environments to the NPC MRC. *Alice Ryan will invite the NPC MRC to the Ocean Guardian ceremony for Quileute Tribal School when it is scheduled. Draft summary compiled by Rebekah Brooks.