Active Projects



Researchers at the FSU Department of Oceanography have secured funding from the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI) to provide routine Red Tide monitoring in northern Florida. Together with six local Coast Guard Auxiliary flotillas, the FSU Department of Oceanography and CMF collect and analyze water samples for Karenia brevis, the Florida Red Tide organism. Detailed physical and biological data are collected on monthly cruises aboard FSUCML's R/V Seminole from the FSUCML along a transect line to the United States Air Force tower N7. Water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH, chlorophyll, Karenia brevis measurements are made at each station along the transect line to determine if Karenia brevis, or other harmful algae are present. The CMF maintains an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) at N7 by SCUBA diving. The ADCP will provide detailed information on ocean currents in the Big Bend Region (BBR). Knowledge of the local currents is essential to determine the origin of Karenia brevis red tides in the BBR. SCUBA operations are overseen and supported by the FSU Academic Diving Program.


The K Tower


FSU, together with four other research-oriented institutions along the Gulf of Mexico, form the Northern Gulf Institute (NGI), which is authorized by NOAAS Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR). Through the support of NGI FSU Departments of Oceanography, Meteorology, Biology, COAPS, FSUCML and the CMF will develop an integrated research program for the northeast Gulf of Mexico BBR, interweaving large-scale ecosystem modeling with real-time oceanographic, meteorological, and ecological observations. The Department of Oceanography and the CMF will deploy subsurface instruments at N7 to measure current velocity, surface wave structure, and biological and chemical water quality parameters. Comparable current, wave and water quality observations will be obtained along the transect line from FSUCML to N7. The CMF will maintain the instruments on a monthly basis in combination with the Red Tide cruises. The Department of Meteorology will deploy real-time instrumentation on N7. The physical oceanography observations along with the meteorological flux measurements will be used to constrain or validate models of the BBR.