Caroline Cusack

Marine Institute · Ocean Climate and Information Services (OCIS)

The EU funded project EuroSea brought together key actors of the European ocean observing and forecasting communities with key users of the ocean observing products and services in order to better integrate existing ocean observation systems and tools, and to improve the delivery of ocean information to users. EuroSea was constructed around the oce...

CES Report on Ocean Climate (IROC) combines decades of ocean observations across the North Atlantic ICES regions to describe the current status of sea temperature, salinity, and atmospheric conditions, as well as observed trends and recent variability. Regional analyses are prepared by the local experts who are directly involved in the monitoring p...

The southern entrance to the Rockall Trough is subject to a complex set of dynamic processes, influenced by Atlantic gyre interactions, the North Atlantic Current, slope boundary currents, variable wind stress forcing, mesoscale activity, and a changing supply of modified water masses formed elsewhere in the Atlantic. These processes drive large te...

This work presents the steps followed in the design and implementation of a marine observatory that provides the current state and forecast of oceanic conditions relevant to the aquaculture sector. Examples of successful implementation of these guidelines are presented in the framework of the EuroSea project (H2020 grant agreement No. 862626) for t...

We analyse Pseudo-nitzschia abundance off southwest Ire-land collected on weekly basis from January 2003 to December 2010. This study aims at describing Pseudo-nitzschia abundance as a function of the sea surface temperature and the wind index (computed from wind speed and direction). We analyse the influence of the daily wind index on Pseudo-nitzs...

The ICES Report on Ocean Climate (IROC) combines decades of ocean observations across the North Atlantic ICES regions to describe the current status of sea temperature, salinity, and atmospheric conditions, as well as observed trends and recent variability. The IROC production focuses the main efforts from ICES Working Group on Oceanic Hydrograph

The marine dinoflagellate Alexandrium Halim represents perhaps the most significant and intensively studied genus with respect to species diversity, life history strategies, toxigenicity, biogeographical distribution, and global magnitude and consequences harmful algal blooms (HABs). The socioeconomic impacts, environmental and human health risks,...

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) cause harm to human health or hinder sustainable use of the marine environment in Blue Economy sectors. HABs are temporally and spatially variable and hence their mitigation is closely linked to effective early warning. The European Union (EU) Interreg Atlantic Area project “PRIMROSE”, Predicting Risk and Impact of Harmf...

This ocean numerical modelling study is focused on the shelf waters off southwest Ireland. Outputs from the model are used to provide scientists and policy makers with climate change information related to oceanic conditions that influence harmful algal blooms in the region. Four simulations were developed to include a 20-year hindcast simulation (...

This paper discusses the conceptual and methodological challenges to co-developing high-quality and transferable knowledge to understand and manage harmful algal bloom (HAB) risks as part of adaptation to changing aquatic ecosystems in Europe. Global HAB-climate change research efforts to date have focused on enhancing the credibility of scientific...

During the months of May, June, July and August 2019 the Red Band Difference algorithm was tested over Irish waters to assess its suitability for the Irish harmful algal bloom alert system. Over the 4 weeks of June an extensive localised surface phytoplankton bloom formed in the Celtic Sea, south of Ireland. Satellite imagery from the Sentinel-3a’s...

Mapping heterogeneity of the ocean's surface waters is important for understanding bio-geographical distributions, ocean surface habitat mapping, and ocean surface stability. This article describes the Ocean-surface Heterogeneity MApping (OHMA) algorithm-an objective, replicable approach that uses hypertemporal, satellite-derived datasets to map th...

ICES Report on Ocean Climate (IROC) provides summary information on climatic conditions in the North Atlantic. The full-text of IROC is available at http://doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.7537.

In situ, Harmul Algal Blooms (HAB) data revealed a strong variability in intensity and toxicity of Pseudonitzschia blooms between 2005-2017 in Killary Harbour and Bantry Bay, the most important production areas for rope grown mussels in Ireland. To study species successions and environmental interactions, a combination of different methods is used,...

Increases in the temporal frequency of satellite-derived imagery mean a greater diversity of ocean surface features can be studied, modelled, and understood. The ongoing temporal data “explosion” is a valuable resource, having prompted the development of adapted and new methodologies to extract information from hypertemporal datasets. Current suita...

ICES Report on Ocean Climate (IROC) provides summary information on climatic conditions in the North Atlantic. The full-text of IROC is available at https://doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.5461.

The Global Ocean Ship-Based Hydrographic Investigations Program (GO-SHIP) provides a globally coordinated network and oversight of 55 sustained decadal repeat hydrographic reference lines. GO-SHIP is part of the global ocean/climate observing systems (GOOS/GCOS) for study of physical oceanography, the ocean carbon, oxygen and nutrient cycles, and m...

Careful definition and illustrative case studies are fundamental work in developing a Blue Economy. As blue research expands with the world increasingly understanding its importance, policy makers and research institutions worldwide concerned with ocean and coastal regions are demanding further and improved analysis of the Blue Economy. Particularl...

The oceans play a key role in global issues such as climate change, food security, and human health. Given their vast dimensions and internal complexity, efficient monitoring and predicting of the planet’s ocean must be a collaborative effort of both regional and global scale. A first and foremost requirement for such collaborative ocean observing...

The oceans play a key role in global issues such as climate change, food security, and human health. Given their vast dimensions and internal complexity, efficient monitoring and predicting of the planet's ocean must be a collaborative effort of both regional and global scale. A first and foremost requirement for such collaborative ocean observing...

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) produce local impacts in nearly all freshwater and marine systems. They are a problem that occurs globally requiring an integrated and coordinated scientific understanding, leading to regional responses and solutions. Given that these natural phenomena will never be completely eliminated, an improved scientific understan...

Since 2008 the Irish Marine Institute and the National University of Ireland (NUI) Galway has undertaken an ocean acidification observation programme in Irish coastal, shelf and offshore waters. This has primarily involved incorporating carbonate system measurements during repeat ship-based surveys. More recently deployment of sensors and underway...

The ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea) Working Group on Oceanic Hydrography (WGOH) was established in the late 1970's with the aim of gathering experts in physical oceanography to provide regular science-based assessments of the North Atlantic hydrographical condition (basically termohaline fields). From the beginning, the...

ICES Report on Ocean Climate (IROC) provides summary information on climatic conditions in the North Atlantic. The full-text of IROC is available at http://doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.4625.

This document describes the procedural steps in creating an information product focused on toxic and harmful phytoplankton. The product is an online Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) bulletin for aquaculturists, who can face serious operational challenges in the days after a HAB event. Data from satellite, numerical hydrodynamic models and In-situ ocean ob...

Understanding the occurrence and movement of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) is a key environmental, economic and societal factor in coastal areas. The global nature and impacts of HABs requires the establishment of international programmes and a cooperative approach. Moreover, given that HAB events do not respect national boundaries, cross region netw...

This study investigated the application of a three-dimensional physical hydrodynamic model in a harmful algal bloom forecast system for Bantry Bay, southwest Ireland. Modelled oceanographic conditions were studied and used to help understand observed changes in the chemical and biological patterns from the national biotoxins and phytoplankton monit...

A 3D primitive equation coastal ocean model for southwest Ireland, called the Bantry Bay model, was developed and implemented operationally. Validated model outputs have multiple uses. One of the incentives to develop the model was to explore the possible transport pathways that carry harmful algae blooms (HAB) into Bantry Bay. The model is nested...

Reasons for the emergent interest in HABs are abundant, including concerns associated with human health, adverse effects on biological resources, economic losses attributed to recreation, tourism and seafood related industries, and the cost of maintaining public advisory services and monitoring programs for shellfish toxins and water quality. The i...

In the summer of 2005 an exceptional bloom of the dinoflagellate Karenia mikimotoi occurred along Ireland’s Atlantic seaboard and was associated with the mass mortality of both benthic and pelagic marine life. Oxygen depletion, cellular toxicity and physical smothering, are considered to be the main factors involved in mortality. In this paper we u...

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are extreme biological events with the potential for extensive negative impacts to fisheries, coastal ecosystems, public health, and coastal economies. In this chapter, we link issues concerning the key drivers of HABs with the various approaches for minimizing their negative impacts, emphasizing the use of numerical mod...

The Marine Institute, Ireland, runs a suite of operational regional and coastal ocean models. Recent developments include several tailored products that focus on the key needs of the Irish aquaculture sector. In this article, an overview of the products and services derived from the models are presented. A shellfish model that includes growth and p...

Toxic and non-toxic Pseudo-nitzschia blooms are common in coastal waters worldwide including Ireland. Off southwest Ireland, the timing of blooms on a weekly scale is highly variable, while the seasonal pattern is more regular with a bimodal distribution. Upwelling conditions are closely linked to Pseudo-nitzschia blooms. The work presented here de...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Background a) Throughout the European Union’s (EU), water quality monitoring programmes exist in many of the member states (MS). With the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD, Council Directive 2000/60/EC) all MS must harmonise their national monitoring methods for each common metric (parameter indicative of a bi...

Abstract This paper presents a high resolution operational biogeochemical model of the North-East Atlantic that encompasses part of the continental shelf and adjacent deep sea and includes all of Ireland’s territorial waters. The setup of the model is described, followed by its skill assessment in reproducing chlorophyll and nitrate spatio-tempor...

A nonaxenic isolate of the potentially toxic diatom Pseudo-nitzschia australis (Frenguelli) from Irish waters was tested in two separate batch culture experiments. When grown under a low irradiance (∼12 μmol photons·m−2·s−1; 16:8-h light:dark cycle) for up to 40 days, the culture produced only trace amounts of the neurotoxin domoic acid (DA) during...

The nature of the problem of harmful algal blooms (HABs) has changed significantly over the last decades, with a substantial increase in the number of occurrences, the types of resources affected and the resulting economic losses (Hallegraeff 1993). These blooms are triggered and controlled by a complex interplay of physical, biological, geological...

A simple model is described which predicts harmful algal events in the bays of southwestern Ireland. Fundamental to the model is the physical forcing of circulation in these bays in summer. The predominant hydrographic feature at this time is a wind-driven two-layer oscillatory flow acting in a thermally stratified water column. This mechanism exch...

KEY POINTS » Increases in the annual numerical abundance of diatoms and dinofl agellates are evident in all coastal regions since 1998. » Diatom abundance has increased earlier in the year since the late 1990s in all coastal regions; an expansion of the growth season. » An increase in phytoplankton biomass is evident in the northern Celtic Sea base...

This paper presents a description of three of the proposed phytoplankton indices under investigation as part of a classification framework for UK and ROI marine waters. The three indices proposed for the classification process are (i) phytoplankton biomass measured as chlorophyll, (ii) the frequency of elevated phytoplankton counts measuring indivi...

A workshop with the aim to compare classical and molecular techniques for phytoplankton enumeration took place at Kristineberg Marine Research Station, Sweden, in August 2005. Seventeen different techniques – nine classical microscopic-based and eight molecular methods – were compared. Alexandrium fundyense was the target organism in four experimen...

using net material acquired during several research surveys carried out off the southern, south-western and western coasts of Ireland between 1993 and 1997. Qualitative examination of the phytoplankton net samples using electron microscopy showed that P. pungens, P. multiseries, P. fraudulenta, P. australis, P. delicatissima and P. pseudodelicatiss...

This report details the investigations into a major mortality of farmed salmon at Inver Bay and McSwyne’s Bay, Co. Donegal in July 2003. Previous reports were provided on 29th July 2003 and on 11th August 2003. The information is based upon analysis and research by MI scientists, a review of environmental data, survey reports by external consultant...

A nonaxenic isolate of the potentially toxic diatom Pseudo-nitzschia australis (Frenguelli) from Irish waters was tested in two separate batch culture experiments. When grown under a low irradiance (∼12 μmol photons·m−2·s−†; 16:8-h light:dark cycle) for up to 40 days, the culture produced only trace amounts of the neurotoxin domoic acid (DA) during...