The ocean’s version of May flowers | Rachael D. Mueller, Ph.D.

Likelihood of impacts from the Coast Trader sunken vessel. — Likelihood of impacts from the Coast Trader sunken vessel during Upwelling (July) and Downwelling (January) seasons, should corrosion lead to a release of oil. I developed these graphics for a modeling project that I led in my work at NOAA, at Genwest Systems, Inc.

Something magical happens in the PNW at this time of year, and I enjoyed helping to see it came to life through these graphics that I developed for a project with NOAA and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO).

The oceans don’t have a saying about April showers bringing May flowers. Instead, they quietly relax in April in praparation for a May transition to the Upwelling season, when winds switch from blowing predominantly to the north to blowing predominantly to the south and the shoreline currents respond by pulling up colder, nutrient rich water to the surface. The ocean breathes with this transition and the phytoplankton bloom that comes with it. April showers may not bring May flowers to the PNW oceans, but the start of phytoplankton blooms in May brings a different kind of treasure to this region in the marine life that it supports (also, sometimes, harmful algal blooms…but…let’s keep the rose colored glasses on right now).

The nutrient-rich, cold, deep waters that Upwelling brings to the surface also silence the resting grounds of sunken vessels, like the Coast Trader, which I was modeling the potential impacts from through this work. The science was cool, as was working with a great team!

Thanks to all of those who contributed to this work: Matthias Herborg for asking for my help, launching this project, and leading team meetings; Amy MacFadyen for sharing her ideas and knowledge of trajectory modeling, as well as downloading modeling files for me to use; Alex Kuropov for sharing model results an interest in this work; Hauke Blanken for providing Canada’s ocean model and code to process it; Dylan Righi for training me on GNOMES Trajectory Analysis Package; Jay Hennen for helping me learn PyGnome coding and a way of reading in CIOPS-W (Canada’s model) files; and Gennady Kachook for his ongoing development of the TAP viewer (which shows these results).

Working with such an exceptional team at NOAA, and being able to provide knowledge like this to help with preparation, planning, and response is its own kind of nutrient. Projects like these help us develop and refine the tools that we use for oil and chemical spill responses. May our work to protect and serve continue to bloom!