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Marine Reserves News: New Data App lets you explore monitoring data from Oregon’s reserves

ODFW sent this bulletin at 11/20/2020 07:35 AM PST

Dive Into Marine Reserves’ Monitoring Data
From The Comfort Of Your Home

We are excited to announce the release of our new data dashboard: The ODFW Marine Reserves Program Data App. This new online tool allows you to use simple-drop down menus to navigate through data ODFW has collected over the last ten years, across Oregon’s marine reserves and their comparison areas. The app is focused on data collected using ODFW's core monitoring tools. We invite you to explore with us as we begin to investigate trends and natural variation of different species at each marine reserve.

Each of Oregon’s five marine reserves differs in its size, spatial configuration, habitats, and past fishing pressure - important characteristics that influence ecological responses to reserve protections. As you explore the app, remember that each reserve is a case study that provides the opportunity to learn about how unique site characteristics elicit different ecological changes and conservation outcomes over time. These unique characteristics also mean we’ve had to implement different study designs and combinations of survey tools to sample the marine communities present at each site. We hope this data app serves to help you better understand the data collected at each site.

Video tutorial on how to use the Data App

Video: We’ve created this short 5 minute tutorial video on how to use the Data App.

As the ODFW Marine Reserves Program continues working on a more formal summary of data and analyses, beyond what’s already available in past reports and publications, we hope that this data app complements our efforts in a fun and approachable way. The data presented in this app are preliminary and for exploratory purposes only. Data management and analysis are on-going and therefore data may be updated or modified at any time on the app. So from the comfort of your own home, don your mask and snorkel and dive into the data with us to explore Oregon’s marine reserves!

Questions regarding the app? Please contact Ryan Fields at ryan.t.fields@state.or.us.

A Peek Underwater at Otter Rock

Underwater video from Otter Rock Marine Reserve

Click to watch the video clip

Find kelp swaying with the current while a Striped Perch and Black Rockfish cruise on by. Can you spot the white nudibranch (sea slug) clinging to the rock? This video was taken with ODFW’s video lander, one of ODFW’s core monitoring tools, during surveys at the Otter Rock Marine Reserve.

Explore more above and below the surface of the water at Oregon’s marine reserves on our YouTube channel. You’ll find videos of marine life, marine scientists in action, and more. Dive in!