PacIOOS Water Quality Sensor Partnership Program 003: Palmyra Atoll

The nearshore sensors are part of the Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System (PacIOOS) and are designed to measure a variety of ocean parameters at fixed point locations. The PacIOOS Water Quality Sensor Partnership Program (WQSPP) supports scientists and natural resource managers to collect water quality data in order to inform research, conservation, planning, and resource management projects in the U.S. Insular Pacific region. Comprised of a network of "roving" water quality nearshore sensors, the WQSPP provides participating partners with sensors, data management, and technical capacity-building to allow for robust data collection. nss_wqspp_003 was located approximately 350 meters southwest of Sand Island and 350 meters northwest of Penguin Spit along the western shores of Palmyra Atoll in the equatorial Northern Pacific Ocean. The sensor package was mounted to the sea floor at approximately 4 meters depth. Data were recorded every 7 minutes. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), with the help of Dr. Jennifer E. Smith from Scripps Institution of Oceanography of the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), deployed this nearshore sensor at Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge to support reef recovery efforts. USFWS removed a large shipwreck from Palmyra Atoll in 2013. The shipwreck had devastating impacts on the reef as the wreck's iron fostered the growth of corallimorph, an invasive organism that smothered a large amount of the once healthy reef. Over time, coral diversity diminished and the reef turned into a "black reef", dominated by this single, invasive species. The successful removal of the shipwreck was followed by the removal of invasive species and the restoration of vital coral reef habitat. Post-removal surveys of coral growth, health, and recolonization were conducted, but drastic fluctuations in turbidity due to resuspension and occasional temperature elevations triggered seasonal coral bleaching. Data collected by this sensor helped to increase the understanding of oceanographic conditions and associated impacts for ongoing and future coral reef restoration efforts.