Open Ocean

Artificial Nesting Platforms in Minnesota Help Restore Injured Loons

When common loons returned this year to their Minnesota freshwater lakes for the summer breeding season, some of them found new homes waiting: artificial nesting platforms to help boost breeding success. These nesting platforms are provided by the Open Ocean Trustees’ Restoration of Common Loons in Minnesota project. This project addresses some of the injury to common loons caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Big Eyes, Looking Out for Birds and Marine Mammals

Setting sail from Mississippi in June into the Gulf of Mexico, a team of scientists are scanning the horizon with their “big eyes” binoculars for the next several months, on the lookout for birds and marine mammals that can best be seen from sea. 

Inventory of Northern Gulf of Mexico Deep Seafloor Habitat Data and Maps Now Available

More than 770 square miles, or 2,000 square kilometers, of deep seafloor habitat surrounding the Deepwater Horizon oil well in the Gulf of Mexico were injured by the 2010 spill. Additionally, more than four square miles of the Pinnacles deep-sea reef complex, located at the edge of the continental shelf, were also injured by the spill.  

Successful restoration of these low-light, hard-to-reach seafloor habitats, or mesophotic and deep benthic areas, requires detailed knowledge of the habitats and ecological communities there. 

A new publication from the Open Ocean Trustees’ Mesophotic and

Monitoring and Adaptive Management Activity Approved to Evaluate Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Restoration

The Open Ocean Trustees have approved a new Monitoring and Adaptive Management (MAM) Activity (PDF, 15 pages) that will develop a framework to evaluate the cumulative outcomes of marine mammal and sea turtle restoration in the Open Ocean Restoration Area.   

For both resources, a problem-solving method referred to as Structured Decision Making (SDM), with expert elicitation techniques will be used to quantify the benefits of Open Ocean restoration actions. The project will start by compiling existing data on marine mammal and sea turtle restoration. This data will be used to develop

Open Ocean Trustees Conserve Additional Acreage on Florida’s East Coast to Benefit Sea Turtles

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group marked another milestone in the conservation of sea turtle nesting habitat.  

In collaboration with partners at The Conservation Fund and the State of Florida, the Open Ocean Trustees completed acquisition of a 1.07-acre parcel in April 2023 and a 0.8-acre parcel in January 2023. These beachfront parcels, which were acquired from willing private property owners, will protect habitat for beach nesting sea turtles in eastern Florida.   

The properties will be managed for sea turtle nesting in perpetuity as part of the Archie Carr National Wildlife

New Resource Available for Gulf of Mexico Sea Turtle Data Collection

A new resource offering guidance on in-water sea turtle data collection is now available for  researchers, restoration planners, and resource managers working in the Gulf of Mexico.  

The guidance was developed as the culmination of the Gulf-Wide Comprehensive Plan for In-water Sea Turtle Data Collection project, and provides a resource for researchers investigating sea turtle abundance and demographic questions. The focus of the project, selected by the Open Ocean Trustees as part of its second restoration plan, was to develop a strategic plan for coordinated data collection efforts across

Hãy gửi ý tưởng của bạn cho việc lập kế hoạch phục hồi khu vực đại dương mở

Xem câu chuyện này bằng tiếng Anh. (Read this story in English.)   

Nhóm ủy thác thực hiện chương trình đại dương mở mong muốn bạn có thể đưa ra ý tưởng nhằm giúp khôi phục nguồn cá, sinh vật không xương sống trong cột nước và rùa biển bị nguy hại do sự cố tràn dầu Deepwater Horizon.  

Bạn vui lòng gửi các ý tưởng về phục hồi mới, hoặc bản sửa đổi của các ý tưởng đã được gửi đi trước đó, thông quacổng gửi ý tưởng dự án của Hội đồng Ủy viên, trước ngày 14/8/2023.  

Đối với các dự án phục hồi, các Ủy viên tổ chức đại dương mở hướng đến các loài có thể phân bố rộng và di cư. Điều đó có nghĩa

Submit Your Ideas for Open Ocean Restoration Area Planning

Đọc tường thuật bằng tiếng Việt. (Read this story in Vietnamese.)   

The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group wants your ideas for helping to restore fish, water column invertebrates, and sea turtles harmed by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.  

Submit new restoration ideas, or revisions of previously submitted ideas, through the Trustee Council’s project idea submission portal, by August 14, 2023.  

For restoration projects, the Open Ocean Trustees target species that can be wide-ranging and migratory, meaning that some projects may take place outside of the Gulf of Mexico. The