-[Narrator] Sand is critical for protecting coastlines,
providing habitat for animals and
supporting ocean economies.
Storms can damage beaches and
wash away large amounts of sand.
When this happens,
coastal communities turn to the
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM,
to help replace this sand
through a process known as beach renourishment.
Beach renourishment typically uses sand harvested from the seafloor
on the outer continental shelf,
an area managed by BOEM.
Before authorizing this kind of activity,
BOEM conducts environmental studies
to evaluate its potential impacts.
Partnerships are an essential tool to
carrying out these environmental studies
and one such partnership is with the
Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary
off the coast of Massachusetts.
Stellwagen is teeming with rich biodiversity,
an array of human activities,
and a long history of ocean research
with data sets that go back decades.
Though no actual sand harvesting
takes place in Stellwagen,
it provides an ideal living laboratory
for developing best practices.
BOEM has partnered with the sanctuary to
study the impacts that sand harvesting
could have on seafloor ecology,
and in particular
a small but important fish called the sand lance.
Sand lance are only about
three to six inches long,
but they're a critical link in the food web
between the tiny zooplankton they eat
and the larger animals that prey on them.
These eel-like fish are a favorite food source of
Humpback whales, sharks seals, seabirds,
and many other ocean predators.
As their name suggests
sand lance live near the seafloor and
lay their eggs on the sandy surface.
However, these fish don't just live
on the bottom of the ocean,
they live in the bottom,
burrowing into the sand to hide from predators.
This makes them particularly vulnerable
to sand harvesting.
Sand lance range overlaps with many areas
that rely on beach renourishment.
Furthermore,
these fish prefer sand
that has the same grain size
as the sand commonly used for this purpose.
As a result,
harvesting activity could impact sand lance
in multiple ways.
It could disrupt spawning,
destroy their eggs,
harm their habitat,
and even harm the fish themselves.
These impacts could potentially affect the ocean predators
that feed on sand lance as well.
Initial studies showed that sand lance populations have
significant seasonal geographical fluctuations.
Understanding these fluctuations will help managers
better plan where and when to harvest sand safely.
Additional studies will focus on understanding when
and how sand lance reproduce,
as well as how long disturbed sand habitats take to recover.
Teams of scientists are gathering data and
building simulation models to uncover the
complex dynamics of the ocean floor.
Studies that could ultimately help improve management strategies,
that will in turn improve the ocean environment.
The Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary
has a proud history of scientific excellence.
Partnering with BOEM not only continues this tradition,
it also ensures that BOEM has access to thorough and
cost-effective scientific research,
to help the government evaluate the potential
environmental impacts of sand harvesting
and other activities.
Learning more about the sand lance will help BOEM
make informed science-based decisions
that benefit coastal communities and
the ocean environment we all rely on.