Protecting Corals, Saving Ships

Quarterly Summary October-December 2004

January 10, 2005

Protecting Corals, Saving Ships

1.   In the first quarter of FY 2005, direct contact and lines of communication were established with the Sanctuary Advisory Council (SAC) of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuaries (FKNMS). The SAC consists of a diverse group of members representing a broad range of interests concerned with sanctuaries issues and promises to serve as a very useful group of initial stakeholders for the “Protecting Corals, Saving Ships” project. There was also continued interaction with the Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment Office, the NOS Special Projects Office and the NOS National Marine Sanctuary Program regarding project requirements and progress.

2.   On December 14, a SAC meeting provided a unique opportunity to present our project to this initial group of stakeholders. The project was well received and supported. The SAC immediately established a Working Group specifically to assist us with this project. Jody Thomas of the Nature Conservancy will chair this Working Group, with the initial meeting scheduled for the week of March 7, 2005. Tasks of this Working Group will include determining what environmental features are considered desirable as well as the level of detail with which these features are to be depicted.

3.   It was also learned that there will be an Environmental Emergency Response Drill, called “Safe Sanctuaries” scheduled for March-April 2005, consisting of two parts; one a desktop drill (March) and; the second an actual “on water” drill (April). The project management team is considering attendance at this drill since it will likely reveal needs and gaps where we may be able to furnish information or at least provide assistance. It will also likely reveal some additional requirements, which still need to be addressed.

4.   Shortly after the December 14 SAC meeting, a debriefing was conducted on December 21, 2004 to provide a progress report to the project’s NOS/NOAA partners: National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment, Special Projects Office, and National Marine Sanctuary Program. An overview of the project and the progress to date, including the outcome of the December 14 SAC meeting, was shared. It was further emphasized that once all the details have been resolved, the main task at this time was to convert existing coral reel maps (data) into a format suitable for use with electronic charts. This data is to be displayed in an environmental layer of Marine Information Objects (MIOs) on nautical charts, based on international standards. The Special Projects representative made reference to an existing database of marine protected areas regulations, which was now being processed and could serve as additional useful information. A follow-up meeting to further explore this is planned in January 2005.

5.   A special internal technical working group was also established up to begin development of the environmental data layer format. This includes the conversion of the data into a suitable format, which will be required so that it can be used in an ECDIS or ECS in conjunction with ENCs including determining which software tools will best serve this effort. This group will investigate the need to develop a new object classes/attributes for coral reef habitats and an MIO product specification.

6.   Also, during this quarter, the first set of shape files containing benthic information was obtained from the National Marine Sanctuary Program Office. This initial set of data was examined to determine whether these shape files could be converted into a format suitable for use with electronic charts, and the challenges that need to be resolved.

7.   Immediate Future Plans:

a.   Attend/Participate in the March 7, 2005 SAC Working Group.

b.   Attend/Participate in the “Safe Sanctuaries Drill” in March/April 2005.

c.   Plan for a larger Workshop in June-July 2005, which will include a wider array of stakeholders, to determine the amount/level of detail, which needs to be depicted. For example, providing the mariner with the type of coral species, may be less useful than providing the regulations/restrictions regarding activities in that area. In other words, can a person enter the area at this time, and what are the limits of the activities within that area.

d.    Determine which Florida Keys Benthic Habitat Shape files need to be converted.

e.   Confirm compatibility of shape file and ENC metadata.

f.   Address the transformation of polygons into a usable format.

g.   Define/create new S-57 feature object classes (MIOs) for coral reef areas.

h.   Propose colors and symbols for MIOs to be used in conjunction with ENCs.

i.   Produce sample Coral Reef MIO data set(s) to be used with suitable ENC.