The Environmental Studies Program (ESP) announces the availability of final results of studies posted to the website between January 1 and March 31, 2014. The list includes the titles with a web link to each report. The quarter’s new postings relay findings from BOEM’s regional and national studies.
They include:
- Alaska: New reports on subsistence use and knowledge of salmon; satellite tracking of bowhead whales; movements and behavior of bearded seals; and oil spill occurrence estimators for onshore Alaska North Slope crude and refined oil.
- Atlantic: Additional datasets for the ongoing Avian Compendium project and other bird studies; as well as findings on environmental risks, fates and effects of chemicals associated with wind turbines on the Atlantic OCS.
- Gulf of Mexico: Archaeological analysis of submerged sites; several reports on corals; and improved methods for identifying chemosynthetic communities.
- Pacific: The first update of coastal and submerged archaeological sites on the Pacific OCS in more than 20 years, to be used to help evaluate remote sensing and coring data collected from any future Pacific OCS development projects.
- National: Effects of noise on fish, fisheries, and invertebrates in the U.S. Atlantic and Arctic from energy industry sound-generating activities; and a synthesis, legislative review, and case law history applicable to cultural heritage in the marine environment.
BOEM's ESP develops, conducts and oversees world-class scientific research specifically to inform decisions regarding development of the Outer Continental Shelf.
The Environmental Studies Program Information System (ESPIS) makes all completed ESP reports available on-line as full electronic pdf documents, including images and graphics. Technical summaries of over 1,200 BOEM-sponsored environmental research projects and over 3,400 research reports are available for online full text search. To explore the ESPIS collection spanning 40 years, click here.
For additional information on BOEM's Environmental Studies Program, including how to find out about research opportunities, click here. You can also follow our work on Facebook, Twitter and Flickr.