CSA Ocean Sciences Inc. (CSA) is pleased to report that Ms. Mary Jo Barkaszi, Business Line Manager of the newest CSA Business Line, Marine Mammals, is currently participating as part ofthe National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Atlantic Marine Assessment Program for Protected Species (AMAPPS) science team conducting aerial surveys for marine species in the northeastern U.S. AMAPPS is a multi-agency program designed to collect broad-scale data over multiple years on the seasonal distribution and abundance of marine mammals, marine turtles, and sea birds using direct aerial and shipboard surveys of coastal U.S. Atlantic Ocean waters.

These important surveys are designed to fill existing data gaps and provide vital information essential to the support of conservation initiatives mandated under the National EnvironmentalPolicy Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and Endangered Species Act. Weather permitting, the team conducts daily aerial surveys from a NOAA Twin Otter aircraft fitted with special bubble windows and a "belly window." Flight patterns follow track lines covering the coastal waters from Cape May, New Jersey to the mouth of the Gulf of St. Lawrence (Canada), from the coast line to about the 2,000-m depth contour.

For more information about the program, visit http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/psb/AMAPPS/. For more information on CSA marine mammal services as well as our seven other business lines, visit www.csaocean.com.

Photo caption: Members of the AMAPPS science team getting ready for a survey on the Twin Otter.