Mobile Bay: Home to Aliens?
No, not the kind from outer space but non-native aquatic plant and animal
species that may have taken up residence in our coastal waters.
Identifying these “aliens” is the goal of an intensive survey announced
today by the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program.The newly formed Alabama-Mississippi Rapid Assessment Team (AMRAT)
will conduct a rapid assessment survey of non-native plant and animal
species in Mobile Bay during September
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2-5, 2003. During this survey,
the first of its kind on the Gulf Coast, researchers will conduct
a variety of sampling activities including: trawling, seine netting,
hand netting, hand picking of animals, and scraping of fouling organisms
from surfaces. Ballast water samples will also be taken from ships
in port. The goal is to collect and identify as many different non-native
organisms as possible during the survey period.
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Over 50 researchers and technicians from several institutions and agencies will take part in this intensive 4-day field and laboratory effort. It will result in a “snapshot” inventory of non-native species from which potentially invasive or nuisance species can be identified. The inventory will also provide insight into the ways these plants and animals arrive in our area and can serve as a basis for development of management plans to deal with potential nuisance species.
The Mobile Bay National Estuary Program, the University of Southern Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, the Alabama Department of Conservation’s Marine Resources Division and the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Program lead the Alabama-Mississippi Rapid Assessment Team (AMRAT). The Sea Lab will host the teams during the survey and provide housing and laboratory facilities. Results will be posted on the Mobile Bay NEP website as they become available. (www.mobilebaynep.com).
-- David Yeager and Lee Yokel
