Assessing coastal waters of American Samoa: territory-wide water quality data provide a critical "big-picture" view for this tropical archipelago.

The coastal waters of American Samoa's five high islands (Tutuila, Aunu'u, Ofu, Olosega, and Ta'u) were surveyed in 2004 using a probabilistic design. Water quality data were collected from the near-shore coastal habitat, defined as all near-shore coastal waters including embayments, extending out to 1/4 mile off-shore. Hydrography and water column samples were collected, and water quality data were compared to the Territorial water quality standards for pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), Enterococcus, chlorophyll a, water clarity, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus. All station measurements for pH, DO, and Enterococcus satisfied the local water quality standards, although some fraction of the Territory could not be assessed for either DO or Enterococcus. With respect to chlorophyll a, 66 +/- 18% of Territory coastal waters complied with the standard, while 34 +/- 18% failed to comply with the standard. For water clarity, 54 +/- 18% of the Territorial waters complied with the standard while 42 +/- 7% failed to comply. Territorial waters satisfied the standards for total nitrogen and phosphorus 72 +/- 17% and 92 +/- 10%, respectively. These data provide the first "big-picture" view of water quality in the near shore region around the high islands of American Samoa. While the picture is encouraging, these data suggest emerging water quality concerns.

The ecological condition of Gulf of Mexico resources from Perdido Key to Port St. Joe, Florida, USA: part I. coastal beach resources.

Using the approach established by EPA's Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP), a shoreline monitoring survey was conducted in August and September 1999, encompassing the Florida Panhandle from Perdido Key, Florida to Port St. Joe, Florida. The objective of this survey was to demonstrate the use of a probabilistic survey for monitoring and estimating the condition of swimmable beach areas. Thirty stations were sampled using a probabilistic sampling design. Hydrographic data were collected in addition to samples for water chemistry. Bacterial indicators, enterococci and fecal coliforms, were enumerated from the water according to the EPA Beaches Environmental Assessment Closure and Health (BEACH) Program and Florida state guidelines. Additional criteria for site condition included the presence or absence of primary and secondary dunes, anthropogenic debris and vegetation. Based on EMAP evaluation guidelines and Florida state criteria, a baseline assessment of the condition of the Gulf of Mexico beach resources surveyed is presented.

Resurvey of a reef flat in American Samoa after 85 years reveals devastation to a soft coral (Alcyonacea) community.

One of the earliest quantitative surveys of soft corals, on a reef flat in Pago Pago Harbour, American Samoa, was repeated 85 years later. The alcyoniid communities there, which were the dominant benthic organisms during the initial survey, have suffered a drastic decline of 99% cover in the interim. The most likely causes of the decline are anthropogenic disturbance associated with reclamation along the harbour from the 1940s to early 1960s, compounded by chronic pollution from industrial wastewater discharge from the mid-1950s to late 1980s. The decline in one dominant species, Sinularia polydactyla, is likely to have serious consequences for the reef as unusually for a soft coral, this had been the major reef building species. Life-history traits of certain Sinularia and Sarcophyton, such as slow growth and low rates of sexual reproduction, mean they will be slower to recover from severe disturbance than many scleractinian corals.