Summer 1994 National Ocean & Atmospheric Administration Page 1
Inside ATOC Environmental Impact Study pg. 1 Sanctuary Update pg. 2 Counting Fish in Monterey Bay pg. 3 Jade: A Sanctuary Treasure pg. 3 The Newest National Marine Sanctuary pg. 3 A Tradition of Research Continues pg. 4 Water Quality Protection Program pg. 4 Discoveries From the Deep pg. 5 Education Programs pg. 6 A Sactuary Non-Profit Support Group pg. 6 Protecting Resources: Regulations and Permits pg. 7 Sanctuary Calendar of Events pg. 8	Sanctuary Awaits ATOC's Environmental Impact Study Since early March, newspapers, television and public officials have debated the merits of allowing low frequency sounds in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary as part of a research project. The proposed project, called ATOC (Acoustic Thermometry of Ocean Climate), is a physical oceanography experiment designed to acoustically measure global warming of the deep oceans using low frequency sound from sites off California and Hawaii. The public interest in this project culminated May 16, when several hundred individuals gathered to voice their opinions at a public hearing held in the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium. Environmental activists, scientists and interested citizens voiced their concerns over having loud, low frequency sounds generated in the sanctuary. Marine scientists expressed their appreciation for the need to protect marine life, but also pointed out the larger worry of global ocean warming. The Acoustic Thermometry of Ocean Climate (ATOC) research may prove to be the only way to monitor a gradually warming climate. Captain Francesca Cava, director of NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary Program, presented NOAA's concerns over the project and issues they would like resolved before a permit is issued for the research to begin. "In creating the National Marine Sanctuary Program, Congress vested NOAA with the unique responsibility to designate, manage and protect coastal marine ecosystems of special national significance," Francesca said in her speech. "The sanctuary program's concerns over ATOC stem directly from our statutory duty to provide a higher standard of protection for these special natural resources."
NOAA's primary concern is the potential harm that low-frequency sound might cause to marine mammals, fish and invertebrates. Francesca stressed the importance of the scientists finding out what these risks might be in their preparation of an environmental impact statement. "Central to the ATOC debate as it relates to the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary is whether the potential ecological risks to sanctuary resources can be adequately assessed and weighed against the project's anticipated value to the nation," Francesca said. In short, NOAA is returning the burden of proof to the researchers. It is up to them to prove that the propagation of loud, low frequency sounds will not harm marine life, and that the information they are able to gather will later benefit the nation and the sanctuary as a whole. For more information about ATOC and the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, please call Sanctuary Manager Terry Jackson at (408) 647-4201.
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