The
coastal ocean encompasses a broad range of saltwater ecosystems, including estuaries,
coral reefs, rocky shores, gravel shores, sandy shores, mud flats, marshes and mangrove
forests. These ecosystems exist where streams and rivers meet the sea and where
tides and coastal currents mix.
Although the oceans cover 71% of Earth, it is the 7% that comprises the coastal ocean
that most affects, and is most affected by, human activity. The significance of
this narrow strip of ocean—from the outer edge of the continental shelf to the farthest
penetration of salt water up river—is increasing as more people live near the shore
and draw resources from the water.
We shape the coastal ocean through our fishing practices, industrial pollution, habitat
modifications, and agricultural runoff. Coastal oceans affect us through variable
food supplies, water quality, harmful algal blooms, and the buildup of wastewater.
Scientists from the Coastal Ecology Program of CCEHBR’s Protected Areas and Resources Branch, working in collaboration with the Estuaries and Land Use Branch and other federal and state partners, have done a great deal of research in coastal oceans as part of their efforts to conduct Regional Ecological Assessments of the status of ecosystem conditions and stressor impacts throughout estuarine and coastal-ocean (shelf) waters of the U.S. An example of a recent product is Nelson et al. (2008), which provides an assessment of ecological condition of coastal-ocean waters along the U.S. western continental shelf from Cape Flattery, WA to the Mexican border.