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Studies: Highlights & Accomplishments

Highlights and Accomplishments of the Pacific OCS Region Environmental Studies Program

The Pacific Outer Continental Shelf Region (POCS) Environmental Studies Program (ESP) started in 1973 and has cumulatively funded about 284 studies at a value of nearly $130 million. The ESP has pioneered research in the ocean along the entire Pacific Coast of the Continental United States. In many cases, the results of the ESP represent the only research ever conducted in the ocean along the coast. The highlights and major accomplishments of the ESP are briefly described by topic area below.

Physical Oceanography - $34,983,000

  • The Bureau has conducted the majority of major physical oceanography field programs conducted along the Pacific Coast.
  • The Bureau funds have allowed Scripps to complete a database of virtually all physical oceanography programs along the Pacific Coast of the United States. The Scripps Data Zoo is an online searchable database available to anyone.
  • The Scripps research program in the Santa Barbara Channel-Santa Maria Basin is nationally recognized as the state-of-the-art program in physical oceanography in the world.
  • The physical oceanography research has improved oil spill models and is the supporting research for larval transport including research being conducted by the Partnership for Interdisciplinary Study of the Coastal Ocean (PISCO).
  • The Bureau expanded the NOAA meteorological data weather buoys in the 1980’s into a Pacific Coast system monitoring winds, waves, and ocean currents. The National Weather Service now operates the system with NOAA funds.
  • The Bureau and USGS are performing much of the state-of-the-art ocean-bottom mapping using multibeam technology. The State of California Ocean Protection Council has recently voted to fund similar mapping efforts.
  • Establishment of a West Coast OCS Meteorological Buoy Monitoring Network
  • CA Shelf Physical Oceanography Circulation Model
  • Central CA Nearshore Currents
  • Santa Barbara Channel Circulation Model and Field Study
  • Central CA Coastal Circulation Study
  • Northern CA Coastal Circulation Study
  • Modeling Circulation in the Southern California Bight
  • Coastal Wave Statistical Database
  • Coastal Circulation off OR & WA
  • Statistical Characteristics of Winds and Currents
  • Santa Barbara Channel-Santa Maria Basin Circulation Study, Phase I
  • Analysis of Physical Oceanography Data Santa Monica Bay
  • Santa Barbara Channel-Santa Maria Basin Modeling - Physical Oceanography – Biological Study Support
  • High Resolution Multibeam Seafloor Mapping

Atmospheric Sciences - $5,055,000

  • The Bureau was the pioneering agency in research to characterize and model the air quality impacts from offshore oil and gas activity.
  • The Bureau research is the basis for improving air quality models is use today by all coastal counties and California Air Quality Boards along the coast.
  • Southern CA Bight Air Quality Modeling
  • Offshore Meteorological Tracer Measurements
  • Southern CA Air Quality Model Validation Study
  • Southern CA Air Quality Trajectory Model Study
  • Offshore Meteorological & Tracer Measurements in Central California Coastal Waters
  • Central CA Air Quality Model Validation Study
  • Photochemical Model Evaluation
  • Fugitive Hydrocarbon Emissions from Pacific OCS Facilities

Fates and Effects - $2,347,000

  • The Bureau funded both laboratory experiments on the effects of oil on fish and invertebrates as well as supporting field research after tanker spills in California and Washington.
  • CA Commercial/Sports Fish Oil Toxicity Study
  • Adaptation of Marine Organisms to Hydrocarbon Exposure
  • Oiling in the Rocky Intertidal Zone of Washington
  • Monitoring Olympic National Park Beach to Determine Fate and Effects of Spill
  • Effects of OCS Oil & Gas Production Platforms on Rocky Reef Fishes & Fisheries

Biology - $28,167,000 + $13,158,000 (BLM Baseline Studies) = $41,325,000

  • The Bureau has been the only Federal or State agency to fund scientific collections of organisms along the entire coast of California.
  • The BLM-Bureau baseline studies in the mid and late 1970’s are classics and are the only data available for ocean bottom communities for most of the Southern California region. (BLM was one predecessor agency to the Bureau.)
  • The Bureau has most recently focused research efforts on understanding the critical role that oil and gas platforms play in supporting populations of some of the most overfished species of California commercial fish.
  • The Bureau has funded the preparation of major texts in marine ecology, fish biology, and marine invertebrate taxonomy that are used in academia and by ocean experts.
  • Assessment of Long-Term Changes in Santa Maria Basin & Western Santa Barbara Channel
  • Succession and Seasonal Variation of Intertidal Communities
  • CA OCS Fisheries Database
  • Monitoring:  Assessment of Long-Term Changes in Biological Communities, Phase II
  • Ecology of the Southern CA Bight

Biology (Continues) - $28,167,000 + $13,158,000 (BLM Baseline Studies) = $41,325,000

  • Biological Reconnaissance of Selected Benthic Habitats of Three Planning Areas
  • Evaluation of Spawning and Recruitment Patterns of Fishes off Northern CA, OR & WA
  • Fish Assemblages of Rocky Banks of Pacific Northwest
  • WA, OR, CA OCS Fisheries Database
  • Taxonomic Atlas of the Santa Maria Basin Fauna
  • Monitoring: Assessment of Long-Term Changes in Biological Communities, Phase III
  • An Updated Inventory of Biological Resources of Southern CA.: SB Channel
  • Ecological Role of Natural Reefs and Platforms on Rocky Reef Fishes
  • Guide to Rockfishes of the Northwest Pacific
  • Shoreline Assessment/Marine
  • Fate of Juvenile Rockfish
  • Platform Fish Residence Time
  • Ecological Performance of OCS Platforms as Fish Habitat off California
  • Reproductive Ecology and Body Burden of Platform Fish
  • Fish Survey of Oil and Gas Platforms
  • Decommissioning Fish Transplantation Experiment
  • Spatial and Seasonal Variation in Biomass and Size Distribution of Juvenile Fishes Associated with a Petroleum Platform
  • Investigation of PCB and PAH Contaminants in Archived Samples of Platform Resident Fish

Protected Species - $12,379,000

  • The Bureau pioneered the survey of marine mammals and seabirds with surveys of the entire California coast in the late 1970’s. These surveys were expanded into Oregon and Washington in the early 1980’s.
  • The Bureau's marine mammal and seabird surveys are unique long-term time series of observations that are the basis for the recent biogeography analysis of the NOAA Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (and Monterey National Marine Sanctuary).
  • The Bureau  funded the pioneering efforts to study California Sea Otters and to design methods to treat and rehabilitate oiled otters.
  • The Bureau  has funded major databases, seabird colony catalogs, training videos, and other information sources used by resource agencies at the Federal and State level.
  • The Bureau  is currently working with USGS to bring the marine mammal and seabird database to the Internet for public access.
  • Southern CA Marine Mammal and Seabird Survey, Year 1
  • Seabird Nesting and Seasonal Use Survey for the C & NC Coastal Region
  • Central and Northern CA Marine Mammal and Seabird Study, Years 1-3
  • CA Seabird Oil Spill Behavior Study
  • Seabird Oil Toxicity
  • Southern CA Marine Mammal & Seabird Risk Analysis
  • Observation of Sea Otter Behavior
  • Population Status of CA Sea Otter
  • Sea Otter Oil Spill Mitigation Study
  • CA Seabird Ecology Study
  • Sea Otter Oil Spill Avoidance
  • Gray Whale Monitoring Study
  • Diving Patterns of Free Swimming Elephant Seals
  • OR & WA Marine Mammal and Seabird Surveys
  • Biological Impacts of Translocated Sea Otters
  • Seabird Nesting Survey for Central and Northern CA and Preparation of a Catalog of Seabird Colonies
  • Publication of the National Atlas of Coastal Water Bird Colonies and WA Seabird Catalog
  • Capture and Monitoring of Foraging and Breeding of the Marbled Murrelet in California During 1990
  • Diving Studies of Northern Elephant Seals

Protected Species (Continued) - $12,379,000

  • Production of Sea Otter Rescue Training Videos
  • Brown Pelican Survey & Breeding Success Following Oil Exposure in the American Trader Spill
  • Pacific OCS Marine Mammal and Seabird Database
  • Shorebirds of the Santa Maria Basin

Social Sciences and Economics - $5,513,000

  • The Bureau funded the creation of a unique database of archaeological and culturally significant marine sites used by other Federal agencies and the State of California Historic Preservation Office.
  • The Bureau  has funded the only studies of the growth of the oil and gas industries and the sociological connections in the region (Santa Barbara, Ventura, and San Luis Obispo).
  • The Bureau has funded studies about the major factors that affect coastal recreation and tourism.
  • The Bureau has funded the potential effects of offshore oil and gas activities on Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest.
  • Santa Barbara Channel Prehistoric Mapping Study
  • CA Coastal Recreational and Aesthetics Study
  • Cumulative Socioeconomic Impacts of O&G Development in SB Channel Region: A Case Study
  • Development of Baseline Data for Socioeconomic Modeling in Santa Barbara Co and SLO Co
  • Impacts of OCS Development on Recreation and Tourism
  • Archaeological Resource Study: Morro Bay to Mexican Border
  • Baseline Socioeconomic. Profile of CA, OR & WA
  • CA, OR, WA Archaeological Resources
  • Inventory and Evaluation of WA & OR Coastal Recreation Resources
  • Potential Effects of OCS Oil & Gas Activities on OR & WA Indian Tribes
  • Social and Economic Adaptations by Fish Harvesters in the SBC-SMB Area, CA
  • Social, Economic & Historic Characteristics of SLO, SB and Ventura Counties
  • The Petroleum Extraction Industry in Ventura, SB, and SLO
  • Data Analysis and Synthesis of Tri-County Monitoring Program
  • Coastal Beach Recreation and Tourism Valuation

Southern California Educational Initiative and Coastal Marine Institute – University of California Santa Barbara - $12,655,000

  • A diverse array of applied and basic research was accomplished through this innovative funding mechanism 1989-2007. Undergraduate, graduate, and post doctoral students were supported through research funded by the Bureau and hundreds of papers have been published in scientific journals based upon this research.
  • The Biotechnology Initiative funded by the Bureau has provided the start of significant findings of potential pharmaceuticals from marine organisms inhabiting offshore oil and gas platforms. (See Coastal Marine Institute for further details.)

Present and Future ESP Emphasis

  • The role of oil and gas platforms in the ecology of overfished species in Southern California.
  • Long-term monitoring of important shoreline (intertidal) resources through a Multi-Agency Rocky Intertidal Network (MARINe).
  • Potential environmental effects of future ocean-based renewable energy projects along the Pacific coast.
Last Updated: June 29, 2011 3:07 PM Pacific Standard Time