What is the CMS?
The Hatfield Coastal Monitoring Station is a state-of-the-art “mini mooring” located one meter (three feet) above the Yaquina Estuary floor, near the intakes for our seawater pumps. These pumps supply seawater to our research labs and Visitor Center tanks throughout the Hatfield Marine Science Center campus. Learn more about the Hatfield seawater system.
The climate-grade oceanographic instruments at the CMS measure water quality and transmit the results in real-time. Currently the CMS measures salinity, temperature, depth (tide), pH, dissolved oxygen, nitrate, phytoplankton fluorescence, turbidity and scattering. The tidal range is 3.7 meters (12 feet) at this location. This data is backed up on servers at the Oregon Data Center in Salem so that it will remain open access to the public.
Who benefits from CMS data?
The data collected from the CMS is meant to benefit everyone, from oyster farmers and fisherfolk, to researchers and policymakers. For example, Hatfield Facilities use the CMS real-time data to ensure we pump water that is salty enough for marine life, especially after big rainstorms. This data can also help inform the local fishing fleet. The data provided shows oxygen and pH levels. These factors affect the success of crabbers and oyster farmers because low oxygen (hypoxia) impacts crabs, and low pH (ocean acidification) dissolves oyster shells. Temperature and salinity data can also inform crabbing operations since fishing vessels in the bay only pump cold salty water into their holds to keep crab fresh. Hatfield scientists also use this data to track conditions in their research tanks.
About Our Team
Expertise from many different groups is required to maintain the station. OSU partnered with the EPA starting in 2012 to operate the YSI EXO Sonde water quality sensor on the HMSC dock. This valuable historical data will be available soon through the Guin Library. Other CMS instruments, like the ECO fluorometer and SUNA nitrate sensor, were generously donated by Sea-Bird Scientific. Other critical partners are units at OSU. The Hatfield Innovation Lab designed and built much of the CMS infrastructure including the winch system, instrument frame, clamps and anchor. Our live data visualization is provided by the CORIOLIX team at Oregon State University's College of Earth Ocean and Atmospheric Science.
Do you have a question about the CMS? Reach out to Hatfield Research Facilities Coordinator Marnie Jo Zirbel. After decades working at sea and in marine labs, Marnie Jo now manages the CMS, weather instruments, and seawater labs.
OSU is committed to continuing this water quality monitoring effort and sharing our data for the benefit of everyone. This project is made possible with funding from the state of Oregon through the Oregon Ocean Science Trust.
About the Estuary
The Yaquina Bay Estuary is located on the Oregon coast in Newport, with approximately 4,329 acres in area and a watershed of approximately 253 square miles. The estuary is designated as a Deep Draft Development Estuary under the Oregon Estuary Classification system. The geomorphology of the area is that of a drowned river mouth estuary consisting of a narrow mouth, embayments, and a narrow upstream channel. The mean tidal range is six feet, and the tidal influence extends to about river mile 26.
Located in Lincoln County, the estuary is primarily used for recreational boating, fishing, crabbing, clamming, wildlife watching and tourism. It is also the home port of Newport's Fishing Fleet, one of the largest and most productive fishing fleets on the West Coast.
The history of understanding local water quality
Until 1800: Before European-American settlers arrived, oysters and salmon were sustainably harvested by the Yaqo’n people (pronounced Yacona).
1860s “Oysterville”: Abundant natural supply of oysters until they were over-harvested by settlers selling to Californians.
The Olympia oyster which is smaller than the commercially grown Pacific oyster, is prized for its distinctive flavor. Originally, Olympia oysters grew from Baja California to Vancouver Island, and are found sparingly in three Oregon bays - Yaquina, Netarts and Coos Bay. During the height of these harvests in the 1890s, some 130,000 bushels of oysters were annually shipped from the Pacific Northwest to California and within 20 years, 90 percent of these native oysters had disappeared.
Researchers speculate that the remaining Olympia oyster populations may have succumbed to increased silt generated by 20th-century logging and mill operations, which either killed them outright or covered their beds and destroyed their habitat. They have not returned in discernible numbers to Oregon estuaries.
1907: Oregon Oyster Farm established
1960: OSU Oceanographers realized there was “no data” about the ocean off the PNW. The Newport Hydrographic Line was established to monitor water quality from the shore along a transect of sample sites 200 miles off shore.
2012-2017: EPA and OSU provided real-time data from an instrument hung from the HMSC dock. Eventually funding ran out for instrument and server maintenance.
2024: HMSC CMS installed