Principal Investigator • Ned Smith, Ph.D. • nsmith@hboi.edu The Physical Oceanography Department conducts transport studies in the shallow waters of the Florida Keys, Indian River lagoon and the Bahamas. Results of field studies can be used to verify computer models that are designed to simulate circulation patterns. Also, results can be used by colleagues who are concerned with the transport of dissolved and suspended material such as larvae, nutrients and suspended sediments. Field work has been conducted in the Florida Keys over the past 15 years to understand circulation patterns in Florida Bay on the Gulf side of the Keys, in Hawk Channel on the Atlantic side, and in the connecting tidal channels. These studies are motivated by the concern that nutrient-rich water from Florida Bay will be carried across Hawk Channel to the reef tract. Ongoing work, supported by NOAA's Coastal Ocean Program, is designed to provide the data base needed to verify computer simulations of regional circulation patterns. Work in the Exuma Cays of the Bahamas is funded by the National Undersea Research Program through the Caribbean Marine Research Center. Field studies in the vicinity of Lee Stocking Island are focusing specifically on density currents that leave Great Bahama Bank with the ebb tide. It has been suggested that this warm, hyperpycnal water can trigger coral bleaching in shelf waters of Exuma Sound. In Indian River lagoon, the focus of an ongoing series of studies is on circulation patterns and flushing rates. Computer models have been developed to determine the baseline flushing rates associated with tidal exchanges and the added effects of seasonally varying wind and rainfall in moving water through the lagoon. Indian River lagoon is an increasingly urban estuary, and results of this work should be useful for maintaining acceptable levels of water quality. • RESEARCH FOCUS • HOW OCEANOGRAPHIC PROCESSES INFLUENCE THE DISTRIBUTION OF QUEEN CONCH (STROMBUS GIGAS) IN THE EXUMA CAYS, BAHAMAS Listen to Dr. Smith's lecture at this years Ocean Science Lecture Series (requires Flash 4).