Oceans and Our Coastal Environments

The Florida Oceanographic Society (FOS), headquartered on Hutchinson Island in Stuart, Florida has been a vigilant advocate in promoting the stewardship of our ocean and coastal resources for several decades.  Now, with the continued expansion of the FOS Coastal Center, visitors and locals can learn more about  the importance of these precious resources.

This week , we welcome Ellie Van Os, the Director of Education and Exhibits for the Florida Oceanographic Society as our featured guest.  Talkin’ Tourism host Gary Guertin and co-host Robin Hicks-Connors want to help our listeners get caught up on what is new at the center. Some of our host's questions will include:

How attendance has been or not impacted in the current challenged economy?
Is eco-education an important activity for visitors to the Treasure Coast?
We know that Robin, former executive director of the Martin County Historical Society, and Ellie will have a lively conversation about “exhibits” and visitor interaction.

With host Gary and his wife Misti now the co-publishers of the Treasure Coast edition of Coastal Angler Magazine, in addition to the Bahamas edition, Gary will share his thoughts on his first week of “rediscovering” the Treasure Coast as the new co-publisher. Are there only strangers in this world, or just friends we haven’t met yet?

The rest of the show (if there is time) will feature select tourism topics from around the country and around the globe.  Did you know that Nik Wallenda has been given permission to tightrope across Niagara Falls, or how to visit the Freedom Trail in Boston from New York for only $149.00 per ticket? Listen in tomorrow (Friday, February 16) for these details and a whole lot more this week on Talkin’ Tourism!

If you're in listening range, tune your radio dial to 1590 AM. If you're any place in the world, you can still catch the show via your favorite Internet browser at www.wpsltv.com. The fun begins at 10:05 a.m. "See" you then!

We think we’re pretty familiar with hurricanes – strong winds, storm surge, flooding rains, ominous satellite images from space, and radar loops when they get near land. But what goes on at and below the ocean’s surface when a hurricane passes overhead? Quite a lot, actually!

Effects on the ocean properties

The upper levels of the ocean are typically strongly stratified by temperature and by salinity. That is, colder, saltier water lies below the warmer, fresher water near the surface. When a hurricane comes by, it mixes everything up, resulting in a muddled and more homogeneous upper ocean. That means the surface water is cooler and saltier than it was previously was, and deeper water is warmer and less salty than it previously was. However, in very shallow coastal areas, the copious amount of fresh cold rain water from the hurricane can actually reduce the temperature and salinity of the near-surface water.

Time series of the vertical profile of temperature and salinity from the ocean’s surface down to 200m, and spanning one day prior to the hurricane’s passage through 2.5 days after the passage. The dramatic mixing down to approximately 150m is evident. Time in days relative to the passage is listed along the horizontal axis. This particular case is from Hurricane Frances (2004) on 1 September. (Sanford et al., 2007)


The colder surface water upwelled by the hurricane can actually be a fairly significant player in controlling the hurricane’s intensity. A strong slow-moving hurricane will upwell cold water much more effectively than a weaker and/or fast-moving hurricane. And since hurricanes require warm ocean water to fuel their “engine”, that upwelling can end up weakening the storm. The trail of upwelled cooler water left behind a storm is called a “cold wake”, and shows up clearly on maps of sea surface temperature.

Effects on marine life

Some studies conducted in the Caribbean Sea have shown that in the year following a hurricane, coral cover is reduced by 15-20 percent (more or less, depending on the intensity of the hurricane) in the affected areas. There are several factors that go into the negative effect on coral: 1) the turbulent water breaks it, 2) the days of muddied water reduces the amount of sunlight reaching the algae in coral tissue, 3) the fine suspended particles clog the pores, and 4) the tremendous amount of rain reduces the salinity of the shallow ocean in the immediate area which can stress coral.

Large self-propelled marine animals such as sharks seem to be minimally affected, since they can detect tiny changes in pressure as larger waves at the surface approach, as well as the reduced surface pressure associated with the storm itself, and go deeper or leave the area. However, hurricanes have been known to result in tremendous numbers of dead fish, crabs, sea turtles, oysters, etc due to reduced amounts of dissolved oxygen in the water, rapid salinity changes, and violent surf.

Just like us up here on the surface, marine life suffers for months to several years from the death and destruction following a hurricane.