Collaborations

Many phenomena that GCOOS seeks to detect or predict are independent of political boundaries; examples are the occurrence and movement of harmful algal blooms, the movement of spilled pollutants, fisheries, spread of species among banks and reefs on the outer continental shelf, or storms. Thus it is imperative that the GCOOS Regional Association (GCOOS-RA) seek collaborations with other nations bordering the Gulf of Mexico. Moreover, the waters entering the Gulf, as well as the nutrients, chemicals, and biota that they carry, have earlier passed through the Caribbean Sea; we must seek collaborations with observing systems in that sea.

Members of the GCOOS-RA Board of Directors visit in Mexico with representatives of entities planning their country's contribution to the Global Ocean Observing System as well as with representatives of Pemex, the Mexican national oil company. We also have invited representatives of Mexican health agencies, Navy, Pemex, and universities to GCOOS-related meetings in the U.S. We will continue to foster cooperation through such interactions.

We share responsibility for ocean observing systems on Florida's west coast with the Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association (SECOORA), another Regional Association within the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System.

The GCOOS-RA is working with SECOORA and with the Caribbean Regional Association to identify, among other issues, commonalities, improved communications and data distribution, joint projects, and approaches to education and outreach. Within the Gulf of Mexico there are other groups seeking to develop and improve ocean observing systems with which the GCOOS-RA is working cooperatively. These include notably the Gulf of Mexico Alliance, the Environmental Protection Agency's Gulf of Mexico Program, and U.S. federal agencies with major observing systems in the region (e.g., the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Data Buoy Center and National Ocean Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Minerals Management Service, among others). Private sector companies and state and local governments often also represent opportunities for collaboration.

In summary, the GCOOS Regional Association is prepared to discuss collaboration with any entities involved in producing continuing observations and products related to the Gulf of Mexico and its estuaries.