Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMarch 2023 NPC MRC Second DRAFT Meeting Summary NPC MRC 3/21/2023 DRAFT Meeting Summary 1 March 21, 2023 NPC MRC 1st Draft Meeting Summary The Tuesday, March 21, 2023 NPC MRC meeting took place by Zoom connection from 4:00 PM to 6:09 PM ([00:00:01] to [02:09:04]). Appointed committee members present at the meeting were Wendy Feltham (Citizen Representative, Jefferson County – Scientific Community), Rod Fleck (City of Forks), Jennifer Hagen (Quileute Tribe Representative), John Hunter (Citizen Representative, Clallam County – Conservation / Environmental Groups), Julie Ann Koehlinger (Hoh Tribe), Katie Krueger (Citizen Representative, Clallam County – Scientific Community), Rebecca Mahan (Clallam County Representative), Ian Miller (Washington Sea Grant, Ex. Officio Representative), Tami Pokorny (Jefferson County Representative, Coordinator / Facilitator), 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), Sue Joerger (Twin Harbors Waterkeeper), Megan Juran (Washington CoastSavers), Jacqueline Laverdure (Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary [OCNMS]), Nancy Messmer (Citizen), John Shaw (Grays Harbor MRC), 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 approved by consensus. Approval of the February 2023 NPC MRC Meeting Summary Wendy Feltham offered a correction to the spelling of the Cientificos de la Basura. The February 2023 NPC MRC Summary was approved by consensus with this correction. Announcements Wendy Feltham reported that the webinar on puffins hosted by Chris Butler-Minor as part of the OCNMS Speaker Series was excellent. She also informed the group that NPC MRC member Eileen Cooney was on a trip but sent her support for the meeting. Old Business There was no Old Business. New Business Supplemental NPC MRC Project Opportunities Part 1 – New Funding NPC MRC 3/21/2023 DRAFT Meeting Summary 2 Sue Joergen presented a request for matching funds for the “Be Wet” grant, funding the Muddy Boots in Your Watershed project. The goal is to provide a meaningful watershed education, and includes a workshop for up to 30 teachers in the first year, bringing learning into the field with up to 300 youth in the second year. The grant is focused on several different school districts, including Quileute Valley, Lake Quinault, Taholah, Rochester, Acosta, Oakville and Aberdeen. The workshop is going to be held in Ocean Shores. The funding request is to help provide lodging and food for the workshop and equipment for teachers to implement in the field, like temperature gauges and leaf experiment kits. Support was voiced for the project. The total funding request is for $14,076. Chris Waldbillig added that there is additional funding available in the current round, so he is working closely with coordinators to monitor funding and make sure that it gets spent. There is about $18,000 available. The second request was from the Quileute Tribe for European green crab trapping equipment, but there are separate funds available specifically for green crab efforts. The third opportunity is for a trip on the new OCNMS research vessel the Storm Petrel, with the possibility of visiting particular sites, taking plankton samples, viewing a mock buoy deployment, or other ideas. The boat can take up to 15 passengers. The group discussed the available dates of 5/30-6/2, 6/5-6/6 and 6/26-6/30, which are weather dependent, and the possibility of offering the experience as a field trip to some of Alice Ryan’s students. *Tami Pokorny will send out a Doodle poll for the Storm Petrel dates. Chris clarified that a scope of work, deliverables, and a timely invoice will be needed for each funding request. All of the funding requests will need to be wrapped up into an amendment. Jill Silver moved to approve the funding request of $14,076 for the training and equipment funds for the Muddy Boots project, and up to two days on the Storm Petrel at $3300 per day; John Hunter seconded. The motion carried unanimously. Temperature Anomaly Presentation Julie Ann Koehlinger presented on her master’s thesis from the University of Washington’s School of Marine and Environmental Affairs: Large and Transient Positive Temperature Anomalies in Washington’s Coastal Nearshore Waters During the 2013-2015 Northeast Pacific Marine Heatwave. The full article can be found here: Large and transient positive temperature anomalies in Washington’s coastal nearshore waters during the 2013–2015 northeast Pacific marine heatwave | PLOS ONE. She went over some oceanography/terminology review, her methodology, the positive temperature anomalies, winds and currents, water movement into the nearshore, and what it all means for us in the future. Definitions included climatology: long-term average of data; anomaly: deviation from the climatology (positive anomalies are above the long-term average, and negative anomalies are below the long-term average); upwelling: ocean process in which deep cold water moves toward the surface; and downwelling: ocean process in which surface water moves toward the deeper ocean. Upwelling is typically a spring transition, and occurs when winds blow from the north to the south, resulting in water moving to the west or right in our case. This creates a void and brings up deeper, colder water from below, providing trace minerals to plankton and a diverse marine life. Upwelling is the reason the Pacific Coast has such a rich diversity and abundance of marine life. Downwelling is essentially a fall transition and is the opposite of upwelling. It occurs when winds blow from the south to the north, putting pressure on the surface water and bringing oxygen-rich, warmer water down to deeper layers of the ocean. Marine Heat Waves (MHW) are characterized by intensity, duration and spatial extent. They are anomalous, occur on a large scale, and involve warm water. MHWs have occurred all over the world, but one we are familiar with here is The Blob, which was detected in late 2013 and continued over the next two years. Julie Ann and her team examined water temperature at approximately 40 meters depth from 6/1 to 10/15 to construct a temperature climatology from 2001-2015, which they compared to the 2014 and 2015 temperatures. This temperature data was then compared to the wind and current data over the same time period, looking at the transport mechanisms to determine where the water came from. The temperature moorings were at Makah Bay, Cape Alava, Teahwit Head, and Cape Elizabeth. Current data came from the Cha’ba Buoy at La Push, and wind data came from the NPC MRC 3/21/2023 DRAFT Meeting Summary 3 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Buoy Data Center on Destruction Island. They found that the standard deviation did not vary too much until the fall. The spring transition was not captured because of the timing, but the fall transition was. Julie Ann displayed graphs of climatology and observed temperatures in 2014 and 2015, temperature anomalies in 2014 and 2015, and temperature through the water column over time in 2014 and 2015. Makah Bay had the largest positive temperature anomalies, with the magnitude of anomalies decreasing south along the coast. The data captured the shift to downwelling in the fall, when the warmer water is moving downward through the water column. This infers that these are situations when the winds shifted from downwelling favorable to upwelling favorable. Large positive anomalies occurred in 2013, 2014, and 2015, which were MHW years, but there was also a large positive anomaly in 2011, which was not a MHW year. This is probably correlated with the downwelling shift. The team also compared wind stress to temperature anomalies, and found that the temperature anomaly lagged behind wind stress by one day in 2014 and two days in 2015 at Makah Bay. Wind stress at Destruction Island was compared to subsurface currents at the Cha’ba buoy, revealing that winds led the currents and spikes in wind increased current movement. Julie Ann also calculated Ekman Transport, the movement of water offshore (upwelling) or onshore (downwelling), and found that anomalies peaked at about the same time that the transport of water peaked. Temperature and salinity plots showed that warmer, fresher (not as salty) water was present during positive temperature anomalies, and that denser water tended to be at the bottom, meaning that warmer, fresher water is present during downwelling conditions. Conclusions included 1: temperature along the coast is dominated by seasonal patterns of upwelling and downwelling; 2: temperatures in 2014 and 2015 were likely influenced by the MHW; 3: pulses of positive temperature anomalies can and do occur outside of MHWs; 4: positive temperature anomalies can have abrupt onset and larger than expected magnitude; and 5: MHWs on top of warming can push marine organisms beyond their thermal tolerance. Julie Ann noted that the same patterns are also happening offshore. Discussion followed on Julie Ann’s research and findings, including observations of variations in the Ekman Transport data, and how to distinguish between MHWs and climate change. *Julie Ann will send her presentation to Tami Pokorny for distribution. Washington CoastSavers Update Megan Juran had to postpone this update but will be back to report to the NPC MRC in May. Supplemental NPC MRC Project Opportunities Part 2 – Existing Funding Tami Pokorny led discussion on existing funding for current projects. There is about $5000 available in surplus administration funds, which could be used on a new edition of the West End Natural Resources Newsletter or other outreach ideas. The group agreed that the Newsletter was priority for the funding. Discussion followed on article ideas, including updates on the Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) competition, the Quileute moorings and collaborations, art from Alice Ryan’s students, the participation in the Ocean Traveler’s project from Alice’s students, John Hunter’s new position with Pacific Education Institute, the new accreditation from Peninsula College for Natural Resources, and an article from Rebecca Mahan on Pacific lamprey. The final deadline for articles is 6/1/23. Jacqueline Laverdure announced upcoming ROV competition events; more information will be forthcoming. Rebecca also suggested a training session from the International Bird Rescue. Updates Coast MRC Update Chris Walbillig had to leave the meeting early and was not present for an update. Washington Coastal Marine Advisory Council (WCMAC) The last meeting was held on 3/8/23. Rod Fleck sent an update. The Council is in the process of reviewing their management plan. The next meeting is scheduled for 6/14/23. WCMAC meeting materials can be found at the Ecology website: Department of Ecology - Committees, Boards, and Workgroups (wa.gov). NPC MRC 3/21/2023 DRAFT Meeting Summary 4 Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council The last meeting was held on 3/17/23. Jennifer Hagen gave an overview of the agenda. The OCNMS is in the process of reviewing their management plan as well. John Hunter added that there have been advancements in ROV use that would be good to pass on to the students in the ROV competition. West Coast Ocean Alliance Jennifer Hagen announced that a tribal coordinator and an assistant was hired. The Alliance is moving forward with an injection of funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Invasive European Green Crab Jennifer Hagen announced the possibility of funds for the Quileute Tribe’s trapping efforts. Marine Debris Tami Pokorny led discussion on plastic debris opportunities and connections. She suggested a subcommittee to take the lead on the reduction and garbage management side. The CoastSavers cleanup is scheduled for 4/22/23. Nancy Messmer submitted a comment: “Volunteers and organizers are looking forward to the Earth Day Beach Cleanups this spring on April 22. Since 2007, when the Washington Clean Coast Alliance formed, it is expected that each partner decides their level of participation in each of the regularly scheduled three annual Cleanups and/or in other Cleanup or outreach events. This year, the Olympic National Park is scheduling the beaches in the Park. Questions about details should go to the Volunteer office at ONP. For registration for the Spring cleanup at other Coastal and Strait beaches, volunteers may get up-to-date information at www.CoastSavers.org.” John Hunter commented on the creativity required for recycling. Discussion followed on plastics and possible research and collaboration opportunities. Climate/Fossil Fuels Related (All) There was nothing new to report. Administrative Update Tami Pokorny announced that all projects are on track with their deliverables. Next Agenda (April 18, 2023): The next NPC MRC Meeting will be held on 4/18/23. Ideas included more conversation on plastics and a presentation on the sea turtles off the north coast. When in-person meetings resume, they will be held at the Peninsula College Forks campus. Public Comments/General There were no public comments. Adjourn at 6:09 PM Action Items: *Tami Pokorny will send out a Doodle poll for the Storm Petrel dates. *Julie Ann Koehlinger will send her presentation to Tami Pokorny for distribution. Draft summary compiled by Rebekah Brooks (Rebekah Brooks Contracting).