Bight ’18 publishes synthesis report summarizing Sediment Quality studies

The Southern California Bight 2018 Regional Monitoring Program (Bight ’18) has published its final assessment report summarizing how sediment contamination in Southern California has impacted the overall health of coastal marine ecosystems.

The Bight ’18 Sediment Quality Executive Synthesis report, which synthesizes five lines of evidence and was published in March, found that sediment contamination levels remain so low across the vast majority of the coastal seafloor – 98.6% – that these areas are considered ecologically unimpacted by sediment contamination.

However, coastal embayments, particularly estuaries, remain disproportionately impacted by sediment contamination, with 67% of the assessed area of Southern California’s brackish estuary seafloors and 56% of marine estuary seafloors possibly or likely impacted.

New to Bight ’18 sediment quality synthesis report are brief summaries of studies examining the persistence of harmful algal toxins and the spread of trash across the coastal seafloor; both studies are closely linked to sediment quality.