All news related to Southern California Bight Regional Monitoring Program
Effort underway to coordinate SAV assessments along West Coast
SCCWRP has begun coordinating with a network of West Coast monitoring agencies to build their capacity to assess the health of eelgrass beds and other submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) – ... More
First Bight ’23 Sediment Quality assessment report published
The Southern California Bight 2023 Regional Monitoring Program has published the first of its Sediment Quality assessment reports summarizing the extent and magnitude of sediment toxicity across Southern California’s coastal ... More
Bight ’23 launching field sampling for ocean acidification monitoring survey
The 2023 cycle of the Southern California Bight Regional Monitoring Program is launching field sampling for a two-year monitoring survey that will track ocean acidification’s trajectory in Southern California’s coastal ... More
Bight ’23 regional survey assessing ecological health of eelgrass beds for first time
The Southern California Bight 2023 Regional Monitoring Program has completed field sampling for a first-of-its-kind multiagency survey evaluating the health of the region’s eelgrass beds based on their ecological functioning ... More
Bight ’23 wraps up shellfish field sampling
The Southern California Bight 2023 Regional Monitoring Program has completed field sampling for an ongoing investigation into how multiple types of contaminants accumulate in shellfish – a highly leveraged effort ... More
Lab intercalibration completed to ensure high-quality, comparable data for Bight ’23 microplastics assessment
The Trash and Microplastics study element of the Southern California Bight 2023 Regional Monitoring Program has successfully completed a laboratory intercalibration exercise to ensure participating laboratories can generate high-quality, comparable ... More
Bight ’18 synthesis report for Sediment Quality studies updated with new SQO scores
The Southern California Bight 2018 Regional Monitoring Program has updated its final assessment report summarizing how sediment contamination in Southern California has impacted the overall health of coastal marine ecosystems ... More
Bight ’23 study assessing effects of ocean acidification on shell-forming organisms
The Ocean Acidification study element of the Southern California Bight 2023 Regional Monitoring Program has launched a two-year effort to track how ocean acidification is adversely affecting shell-forming organisms in ... More
Bight ’23 kicking off regional assessment of eelgrass bed health
The Southern California Bight Regional Monitoring Program is kicking off a first-of-its-kind regional monitoring survey this September to evaluate the health of the region’s eelgrass beds based on their ecological ... More
Bight program modernizing computational methods for bioassessment scoring tools
The Southern California Bight Regional Monitoring Program has launched an effort to modernize the computational methods used to score the biological health of organisms living in and on the sediment ... More
Bight ’23 shellfish study to benefit 4 study elements
The 2023 cycle of the Southern California Bight Regional Monitoring Program has launched a year-long investigation to comprehensively track the accumulation of multiple different types of contaminants in shellfish – ... More
Field sampling completed for Bight ’23 Sediment Quality element
The Southern California Bight 2023 Regional Monitoring Program has completed field sampling for its signature Sediment Quality study element – a coordinated, three-month field effort that lays the foundation for ... More
Bight ’23 field sampling underway to evaluate sediment quality
The 2023 cycle of the Southern California Bight Regional Monitoring Program has kicked off field sampling of coastal seafloor sediment to evaluate the chemical, toxicological and biological health of Southern ... More
Bight ’23 using newly standardized methods to analyze microplastics in sediment and shellfish
The Trash and Microplastics study element of the Southern California Bight 2023 Regional Monitoring Program is leveraging newly standardized methods for collecting and measuring microplastic particles to conduct a regional ... More
Study shows more than 77% of Southern California’s coastal stream kilometers contains trash
The Southern California Bight 2018 Regional Monitoring Program has published the findings of a regional survey of trash in aquatic environments that concluded that 77% of Southern California’s 4,600 miles ... More
Bight ’23 to feature 7 study elements probing coastal ocean health
The Southern California Bight Regional Monitoring Program has solidified plans for seven study elements for its upcoming 2023 cycle – the largest number of elements to date – reflecting the ... More
Study probes utility of virus method for fecal detection
The Southern California Bight 2018 Regional Monitoring Program has completed a study that found that an alternative, virus-based method for tracking fecal contamination can be used as an effective complement ... More
Bight ’23 to be scoped out during September 22 kickoff meeting at SCCWRP
Participants of the Southern California Bight Regional Monitoring Program will begin making decisions about which study elements the program will tackle and which management questions the program will answer during ... More
Bight ’18 study shows how bioanalytical screening can be used to monitor sediment contamination
SCCWRP and its partners have completed a three-year effort to demonstrate how bioanalytical screening technology can be incorporated into the Southern California Bight 2018 Regional Monitoring Program to help track ... More
Bight ’18 publishes synthesis report summarizing Sediment Quality studies
The Southern California Bight 2018 Regional Monitoring Program (Bight ’18) has published its final assessment report summarizing how sediment contamination in Southern California has impacted the overall health of coastal ... More
Sediment quality study examines how to protect coastal estuaries from eutrophication
SCCWRP and its partners have completed a two-year sediment quality study examining how to protect bottom-dwelling aquatic life in coastal estuaries from excess organic matter triggered by eutrophication. The study, ... More
Bight partnerships to expand understanding of acidification
The Southern California Bight Regional Monitoring Program is partnering with three other West Coast marine monitoring groups this summer to produce the most comprehensive picture to date of how ocean ... More
Bight ’18 study documents domoic acid across coastal ocean seafloor
The Southern California Bight 2018 Regional Monitoring Program has completed a study examining how a toxin produced by a certain ubiquitous type of marine algae can settle and stick to ... More
Non-targeted analysis used to detect bioactive contaminants in Bight ’18 sediment
SCCWRP and its partners have completed screening sediment samples collected during the Southern California Bight 2018 Regional Monitoring Program for contaminants using non-targeted chemical analysis. The work, completed in December, ... More
Bight ’18 finds local sportfish within ‘safe to eat’ thresholds
Contamination levels in the tissues of commonly caught Southern California sportfish were found to be within “safe to eat” thresholds for consumption at least once a week during the Southern ... More
Two Bight ’18 Sediment Quality reports nearing completion
The Southern California Bight 2018 Regional Monitoring Program is preparing to publish the third volume of its Sediment Quality assessment reports by the end of the year, with a fourth ... More
Second Bight ’18 Sediment Quality assessment report published
The Southern California Bight 2018 Regional Monitoring Program has published the second of its Sediment Quality assessment reports, and two others are undergoing internal review later this summer. The Bight ... More
Initial round of bioanalytical screening completed for Bight ’18 sediment, fish samples
SCCWRP and its partners have completed screening Southern California Bight sediment and fish tissue samples for chemical contaminants that activate the aryl hydrocarbon receptor – the first of three bioanalytical ... More
First Bight ’18 Sediment Quality assessment report published, three others nearing completion
The Southern California Bight 2018 Regional Monitoring Program has published the first of its Sediment Quality assessment reports, with three others expected to undergo internal review this summer. The Bight ... More
Bight ’18 Sediment Quality element nearing completion on assessment reports
The Sediment Quality element of the Southern California Bight 2018 Regional Monitoring Program is scheduled to publish the first of its assessment reports this spring, with four other report volumes ... More
Review of data underway for Bight ’18 Sediment Quality element
The Bight ’18 Sediment Quality element is on track to finalize and publish its final assessment reports by spring 2020. The Sediment Quality element of the Southern California Bight 2018 ... More
Bight ’18 Microbiology element preparing to kick off field sampling for coliphage method evaluation study
Participants of the Southern California Bight 2018 Regional Monitoring Program’s Microbiology element will initiate field sampling in August for a study evaluating the relevance and reliability of using coliphage viruses ... More
Bight ’18 sediment, fish samples to be screened using bioanalytical assays
SCCWRP and its partners in June will begin screening sediment and sportfish tissue samples collected from across the Southern California Bight for bioactive chemical contaminants using bioanalytical screening assays. More ... More
Bight ’18 HABs study preparing to track freshwater cyanotoxins in coastal zone
The Southern California Bight 2018 Regional Monitoring Program’s Harmful Algal Blooms element has tentatively greenlighted a study that will explore whether freshwater cyanotoxins are being transported in the coastal zone. ... More
Bight ’18 pilot study to assess how acidification is impacting marine calcifiers
The Ocean Acidification element of the Southern California Bight 2018 Regional Monitoring Program has launched a pilot study examining how ocean acidification is impacting sensitive marine calcifiers in Southern California’s ... More
Field sampling completed for Bight ’18 Sediment Quality element
Participants of the Southern California Bight 2018 Regional Monitoring Program’s Sediment Quality element have finished collecting seafloor sediment samples from about 400 sites across the Southern California Bight. The field ... More
Bight ’18 HABs element developing method to track impacts of cyanotoxins in coastal waters
The Harmful Algal Blooms element of the Southern California Bight 2018 Regional Monitoring Program has begun working to develop an assessment method for tracking the ecological impacts of freshwater cyanotoxins ... More
Bight ’18 Microbiology element initiates lab training for coliphage-based water-quality monitoring method
Participants of the Southern California Bight 2018 Regional Monitoring Program’s Microbiology element have begun laboratory training for a study that will evaluate the relevance and reliability of using coliphage viruses ... More
SMC conducting trash surveys in watersheds to support Bight ’18
The Southern California Stormwater Monitoring Coalition (SMC) has launched trash sampling surveys in wadeable streams across coastal Southern California to support the Southern California Bight 2018 Regional Monitoring Program’s efforts ... More
First large-scale CEC screening study targeting marine environment incorporated into Bight ’18
Bioanalytical cell screening assays and non-targeted chemical analysis are being used for the first time to screen for CECs across the Southern California Bight as part of an expanded Bight ... More
Bight ’18 kickoff brings together dozens of agencies
A collaboration involving dozens of environmental organizations will examine how human activities have affected the ecological health of Southern California’s coastal waters during the sixth cycle of the Southern California ... More
New Bight ’18 tools to improve data management workflows
SCCWRP has developed a series of new tools and automations for the 2018 cycle of the Southern California Bight Regional Monitoring Program designed to streamline and enhance data management. Known ... More
Effort underway to clean up, standardize historical Bight monitoring data
SCCWRP and its member agencies have initiated a project to clean up and standardize decades of data they’ve collected from across the Southern California Bight during routine environmental monitoring. The ... More
Bight ’13 CIA element publishes integrated summary reports
The integrated findings of the Contaminant Impact Assessment (CIA) element of Bight ’13 have been published in a final assessment report and an accompanying, 12-page executive summary intended for a ... More
Bight ’13 CIA element publishes integrated summary reports
The integrated findings of the Contaminant Impact Assessment (CIA) element of Bight ’13 have been published in a final assessment report and an accompanying, 12-page executive summary intended for a ... More
Bight ’13 regional monitoring wrapping up major elements
Three of the five elements of the Southern California Bight 2013 Regional Monitoring Program are winding down as a series of final assessment reports is published over the next few weeks. ... More