Reef assessment and mapping in the Central Pacific

Operational Readiness Training day

Operational training ensures that the scientists are prepared for our upcoming mission. Candace Alagata practices launching a boat off the side of the larger ship. These smaller boats will take us to our survey sites to collect data.

Aloha Rainier!

Members of the NOAA Fisheries office in Hawaiʻi send the Rainier on its voyage with a big aloha! Wishing all on board fair wind and following seas as they head off to the central Pacific.

Hyperbaric chamber training

NOAA divers and Rainier's hyperbaric chamber operators practice emergency procedures in the unlikely event of a dive accident. All divers also experienced what it feels like inside the chamber. Photo: NOAA Fisheries.

Photoquadrats

The ship has reached Howland Island, the first survey location! Scientist Joy Smith takes a photograph of the reef every meter along a 30-meter transect. These images, called photoquadrats, help us estimate coral cover, which indicates the reef’s health. Credit: NOAA Fisheries

Measuring coral reef growth

Scientist Ari Halperin installs a calcification accretion unit (CAU) next to a subsurface temperature recorder (STR). These CAUs measure reef growth over time, and the temperature recorder helps us monitor heat events. Credit: NOAA Fisheries

Where is Waldo?

Scientist Joao Garriques finds himself surrounded by a school of black jacks (Caranx Lugubris). This many fish make it hard to see your dive buddy on the other side of the transect line, but it also indicates a healthy reef! Credit: NOAA Fisheries

The drop-off

Schools of small colorful anthias cloud the waters on the south side of Baker Island's shallow reef before it drops into the abyss. These fish eat small animals that float in the water called zooplankton. A lot of zooplankton usually means a lot of anthias, which are signs of a healthy reef. Credit: NOAA Fisheries

Giant Grouper

A giant grouper (Epinephelus lanceolatus) hangs out under a school of black jacks (Caranx lugubris). Giant groupers can grow to weigh up to 800 pounds—about as big as a horse! Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Ari Halperin

Sharing the mission

American Sāmoa Government Officials, members of the Office of Sāmoan Affairs, and students toured the ship while it was in port. They checked out the bridge where the captain and crew pilot the ship and learned about the dive recompression chamber which we keep onboard for divers’ safety. To top off the tour, scientists explained our coral reef surveys. These tours are a great way to share our science with the community and to hopefully inspire the next generation of marine scientists! Credit: American Sāmoa Government Communications and NOAA NMSAS

Here we go!

A new team of divers have joined the NOAA Ship Rainier at Pago Pago ready to kick start Leg 3! Our team will be conducting visual coral surveys and Structure-from-Motion surveys around the American Sāmoa archipelago. As part of several readiness exercises conducted the first day, the team snorkeled around the beautiful Fatu Rock - Flower Pot Rock - near the entrance of Pago Pago harbor to get acquainted with some of the many coral species that build and maintain the Samoan coral reefs. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Damaris Torres-Pulliza

Pink reefscape

The team woke up to a lovely sunrise over Swains Island and ideal conditions for launching and recovering small boats. The dramatic drop off around the island and beautiful pink hues made this a fantastic day for dive operations! Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Courtney S. Couch

Structure from Motion in the Surge

Chief Scientist, Dr. Courtney Couch, prepares to take digital photographs of the reef surface in the shallows off Swains Island. She will snap over 1,500 overlapping pictures along the transect line, despite the wave energy pushing her left and right. Back in the office in Honolulu, our team will use these images to create a large-scale, 3D model of the reef --- a technique called 'structure-from-motion'. From this model, our scientists will count, identify the species, and assess the condition of the corals on the reef from the comfort of their chairs! Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Mia Lamarind

How many corals do you see?

We are calling the 3rd leg of the RICHARD mission the Benthic Leg. "Benthic” refers to anything associated with or occurring on the bottom of a body of water. In this case, our benthic team focused on monitoring status and trends of corals, seaweeds, and other critters that make their home on the reef bottom. Our 10 benthic team members are trained to identify over 100 types of corals. How many can you see for yourself in this photo? Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Damaris Torres-Pulliza

Calling a coral home

This colorful hermit crab shelters amidst the branches of a cauliflower coral (Pocillopora meandrina). Corals not only build the physical structure of the reef but protect numerous invertebrate species that call the coral reef home. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Damaris Torres-Pulliza

Tofa soifua mo le taimi nei Swains

The team says goodbye for now to the beautiful pink hues of Swains Island having successfully completed all the planned benthic surveys. Pink crustose coralline algae (CCA) dominate and paint the shallow reefs at Swains but also play a vital role in coral reef ecosystems. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Damaris Torres-Pulliza

Divers backrolling

After their last safety check, the benthic divers backroll off the small boat in their SCUBA gear to begin surveys. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Brittany Huntington

Welcome to Rose Atoll!

Rose Atoll is a National Marine Monument and a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Refuge. Though uninhabited by humans, Rose Atoll contains the largest populations of giant clams, nesting seabirds, and rare reef fish in all of American Sāmoa. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Damaris Torres-Pulliza

Coral condition

Scientist Joao Garriques measures the size and condition of corals encountered along a transect. In the shallow reefs around Rose Atoll, pink crustose coralline algae give the reefs their pink color and help create the habitat structure of the reef ecosystem. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Damaris Torres-Pulliza

A visit to Big Momma

After a long day of benthic surveys at Taʻū, our divers visit Big Momma! This massive Porites is one of the largest corals recorded in the world. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Mia Lamarind

Divers in good hands

Dive officer and chamber supervisor Mikey Kent enthusiastically awaits the benthic divers’ return to the ship after a long day in the field. Aside from overseeing all aspects of safe diving operations, Mikey also fills water buckets for gear sanitation at the end of a dive day. Soaking scuba diving equipment in a 10-15% bleach solution then rinsing it with fresh water helps prevent accidental transmission of pathogenic bacteria and other microorganisms between reefs. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Damaris Torres-Pulliza

Squishy squids

Benthic divers were surrounded by reef squid during one of their safety stops today. It is always mesmerizing to watch cephalopods, given their intriguing intelligence and remarkable ability to change body color, texture, and shape in mere seconds - they are like underwater billboards. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Mia Lamirand

Field days aren't always glamorous!

Every day we assess ocean conditions for the safety of our divers. Extra precautions are required during deployment and pickup of dive boats. Despite a few days of rain and wind while surveying around Ofu, we have managed to safely conduct dive operations! Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Dama Torres-Puliza

A symbiotic relationship

Corals rely on partnerships with algae to survive. Algae live in the surface tissue of the corals and make food for them using sunlight in exchange for a safe place to live. Different textures and shapes of coral surfaces help regulate the amount of light that reach the algae, creating a variety of environments for this relationship to thrive. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Damaris Torres-Puliza

Land-Sea connection

The twin volcanic islands Ofu and Olosega kept our divers busy underwater as they revealed a high diversity of coral species. Above water, the dramatic natural landscape beauty surrounding us was awe-inspiring. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Damaris Torres-Puliza

Diving into American Sāmoa's first National Marine Sanctuary

Our dive team observed many different species of coral in Fagatele Bay---a National Marine Sanctuary since 1986. These branching Acropora thickets stretched on and on into the distance. Did you know that American Sāmoa is home to five other Marine Sanctuaries? Check them out here: https://americansamoa.noaa.gov/about/location.html. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Mollie Asbury

NOAA Ship Rainier Power-Slide

Sea conditions were a bit rough during the last days of diving operations. Here, the NOAA Ship Rainier conducts a power-slide maneuver, where the boat turns 180 degrees and 'slides' into its own wake. The maneuver creates glassy water conditions and shields smaller boats from winds and waves - creating a safer environment for recovery and launching dive boats. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Damaris Torres-Pulliza

Coral Surveys

Today was the last day of operations for the benthic team, having successfully met all of our surveying goals. The team counted over 25,000 coral colonies ranging in size from less than an inch to over 24 feet! Big thank you to the crew of the NOAA Ship Rainier for the vital support provided and to the American Sāmoan community for sharing their beautiful islands and culture with us. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Joao Garriques

Fish identification review

Another team of scientists has joined the Rainier! While the last team’s focus was on gathering coral data, this group will survey the reef fish populations around the islands that they visit. As the ship travels to Baker Island, the team has some time to brush up on their fish identification skills. They have to identify different species of fish underwater quickly, so keeping their ID skills sharp is a must! Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Tye Kindinger

Not a fish!

Although we only have fish divers onboard currently, we start this leg's cruise updates with a jellyfish! Interesting fact about the crown jellyfish—it is harvested for consumption in some parts of its range. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Jeff Milisen

Time to go to school

This school of blackfin barracuda (Sphyraena quenie) briefly interrupted their early morning commute to check out our divers. These beautifully striped fish can often be found schooling and are usually very curious. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Jeff Milisen

Sharkie survey

A curious grey reef shark (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos) passes over the transect line while scientist Mia Lamirand takes Structure from Motion photos in the background. Grey reef sharks are a common sight on most of our dives here and will often swim through our surveys to check us out. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Dani Escontrela

Anchor away

Large table corals make excellent hiding spaces for fish like the blue-lined squirrelfish (Sargocentron tiere) during the day. At night they will venture out looking for small crabs, worms, and other critters to eat. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Jeff Milisen

The Imitation game

A school of mimic goatfish (Mulloidichthys mimicus and some M. vanicolensis) swims over a large field of coral. Mimicry is a tactic many fish use to protect themselves from predators. These goatfish mimic the blue stripped snapper (Lutjanus kasmira) which may be harder to catch and not as tasty as the goatfish. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Mia Lamirand

Cloudy with a chance of Anthias

Whitley's splitfin (Luzonichthys whitleyi), fusilier damselfish (Lepidozygus tapeinosoma), and other species of anthias cloud the waters of Howland and Baker with their sheer numbers while a grey reef shark patrols in the background. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Jan Willem Staman

Sounds of the Reef

On our last day of diving for this leg, we deployed two sound traps around Howland to record the sounds of the reefs. Fish Team Lead, Rebecca Weible, can be seen here taking a 75 pound weight with lift bag down to the site and securing it to the reef. The sound trap will be securely attached to the weight to hold it in place when the seas get rough. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Jeff Milisen

Underway again!

After ship repairs, we are finally underway again! During our transit, we prepare equipment including subsurface temperature recorders (STRs). They will record the water temperature at coral reefs for the next 3 years. We will also collect STRs from 2018 deployments which will show us the temperatures of the ecosystem over the last 5 years! Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Lori Luers

Spot the STRs!

Pictured here are 2 subsurface temperature recorders (STR): the one we installed in 2018 and its replacement installed today. Over time, the STR gets camouflaged with encrusting organisms. Can you spot it? It is secured to the reef just below and to the left of the new STR. These devices have to be retrieved and cleaned before we can collect their temperature data. Finding STRs takes an accurate GPS position, a skilled coxswain (boat driver), a drop float, one or more dives, and sharp eyes! Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Joy Smith/Thomas Oliver/Lori Luers

'All mixed up' in fish surveys

Fish surveys involve counting, identifying, and sizing all the fish that swim into a survey area – which can be harder than it sounds! Here is 1 school of 3 different types of fish from our survey today on the outer bank of Tutuila's south shore. Can you spot the subtle differences? Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Jeff Milisen

Instruments installed

A diver reels in a transect line after installing instruments that will measure reef growth and erosion. These structures will remain on the reef for a few years, and scientists will collect them when they return to American Samoa for another round of monitoring surveys. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Ari Halperin

Getting creative!

Sometimes it is challenging to find a secure location for the instruments! Scientist Ari Halperin finds a well-protected spot on a reef ledge where he secures a temperature recorder. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Dani Escontrela

Science isn't easy

Scientists survey different depths of reef to get an accurate picture of overall reef health. We encounter all kinds of challenging conditions, such as strong currents and breaking waves on shallow reefs. Scientist Joao Garriques works in the surge to lay a transect while being sloshed around like he's in a washing machine. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Ari Halperin

Swapping out

A diver from our Ocean and Climate team installs a new temperature logger and retrieves the old one that has been collecting data on the reef for the past 5 years. Back in the office, we will use that data to see if there were any extreme heat events that may have affected coral health. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Ari Halperin

Coral tower

Coral reefs come in all shapes and sizes! Here a diver swims over a large pillar of coral while counting fish. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Jeff Milisen

Teamwork makes the dream work!

This buoy is attached to an instrument that measures pH levels in the water. Our local partners from the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa are on board with us and reprogram the sensors while we do our surveys. Teamwork makes the dream work! Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Jeff Milisen

Scientific diver equipment

A diver swims towards the survey area carrying many pieces of equipment to perform a fish survey. The reel has a line that connects to a bright orange buoy on the surface. This is how the boat driver finds the divers below the surface. She also carries a slate to note her fish observations and a length of plastic pipe to use as a measuring tool. Credit: NOAA Fisheres/Jeff Milisen

Here fishy fishy!

After surveying, a diver reels up the transect line. This line defines the area where the divers count and identify fish. Although there aren't many big fish swimming through this survey area, lots of little fish hide in the reef! Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Ro Lee

Capturing coral cover

A diver takes photographs of the reef to analyze later. These photos tell us how much coral is present on the reef, how much algae is growing, and what other living things are attached to the seafloor. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Jeff Milisen

Outreach and education

Leg 7 begins! During our in port in Apia, the capital and largest city of the Independent State of Sāmoa, we conducted an outreach event and ship tours in partnership with the U.S. Embassy in Sāmoa. Attendees included several diplomats and ambassadors (the U.S. Chargé d’Affaires, the Ambassador from Japan, the Acting High Commissioner from Australia, the High Commissioner from Great Britain, the Director of the Sāmoa Meteorological Service, and the Sāmoa Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries), as well as staff from the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and Sāmoa Conservation Society, and students from the University of the South Pacific and National University of Samoa, totalling about 70 attendees! Our entire science team participated in the event, sharing information about our surveys, and our chamber supervisor provided an overview of our dive chamber. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Ray Boland

Kicking off leg 7

Operations began with a misty morning departure from Tutuila. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Ray Boland

It's a beautiful day at Ofu and Olosega!

Today divers from the ocean and climate team and fish team got in the water at Ofu and Olosega to recover and install scientific instruments and conduct fish surveys. Left: Both small boats work offshore of beautiful Ofu and Olosega islands. Right: Chief Scientist Hannah Barkley deploys a temperature logger at a shallow site. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Morgan Winston

A rosy pink atoll

Across the U.S. Pacific, the fastest growing crustose coralline algae can be found at Rose Atoll because of the favorable water chemistry conditions here. Climate scientists at NOAA measure how fast the reefs are growing using Calcification Accretion Units (CAUs). Left: An underwater CAU replacement. Right: The retrieved CAU topside. This CAU had been deployed for 5 years! Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Morgan Winston

Life in the lagoon

The lagoon at Rose Atoll is 1.2 miles wide and up to 65 feet deep. It is almost completely enclosed, with a narrow channel on the northwest side. Divers encountered a variety of exciting wildlife in the lagoon, including this stingray, turtle, and shark! Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Morgan Winston and Nate Hayes

Filefish at Fagatele

Fagatele Bay in Tutuila is home to diverse fish and coral populations. Branching Acropora corals are the perfect habitat for these adorable small orange-spotted filefish! Credit: NOAA Fisheries

Calm before the storm

Divers assess conditions on the north shore of Olosega before the small boat launch. Passing squalls didn't stop the teams from getting their work done for the day! Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Ray Boland

Unusual suspects

Fish divers learn to identify hundreds of fish species in preparation for surveys, but sometimes an unusual suspect sneaks in. When divers don’t recognize a fish, they take photos so they can identify it when they return to the ship. For example, this butterflyfish, Chaetodon flavirostris, was recently spotted during a survey in Tutuila. It was the first time this rare species was ever spotted on an NCRMP survey! Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Dani Escontrela-Dieguez

Calculating carbonate budgets

Divers measure reef growth by surveying both reef building organisms (like corals and crustose coralline algae), and eroding organisms (like parrotfish and urchins). This work estimates how much of the habitat is growing and shrinking over time. Tracking these metrics is increasingly important under a rapidly changing climate. Credit: NOAA Fisheries

Coral translocation on Rose

On October 14, 1993, a long-line fishing vessel ran aground on the southwest arm of Rose Atoll. Remains from the site have been gradually removed over time. Six months ago, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the American Samoa Coral Reef Advisory Group relocated live, healthy coral colonies to the shipwreck site. Today, our divers surveyed the site to assess how the corals are faring and collected imagery to share with our local partners. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Hannah Barkley

The cleaning station is open

This helpful cleaner wrasse tends to a yellow pufferfish off the island of Ofu. Cleaner wrasses can remove and eat parasites living on other fish - both parties benefit from this behavior! Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Nate Hayes

Sunrise over Aunuʻu

Getting up early to prep dive gear lends itself well to catching some epic sunrises. This morning's over Aunuʻu did not disappoint! Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Ray Boland

Inquisitive fish

Our fish team divers encounter some colorful and inquisitive coral reef fish in American Samoa. Pictured here: a dark-finned hind sneaks up on a red-toothed triggerfish (left) and a three spot angelfish (right). Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Ray Boland

Tau's coastal wonders

Tau is the easternmost volcanic island of the Samoan Islands. During the summer, the south shore is pounded by waves (top). Below the surface, Tau is home to some of the world's largest corals (bottom). Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Ray Boland

Peekaboo!

An adorable juvenile lemonpeel angelfish says hello to divers. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Nate Hayes

Science is cool!

Sharing science with the community is an important part of our mission. When the Rainier docked in Pago Pago Harbor in Tutuila, people had the opportunity to tour the ship and learn about our surveys. Credit: NOAA NMSAS