Commercial Marine Biology Services, Coral Transplant & Monitoring, Endangered Species Surveys

These services can be provided as a stand alone service or in conjunction with our other services.  When underwater construction is planned, protection of the environment is often a required part of the contract.  Our in-house experienced Marine Biologist can provide all of the technical expertise required to accomplish these tasks.

Surveys for endangered species can be performed prior to the start of any construction.  This can include aquatic species listed by the Federal, State, or a foreign government, and can range from endangered fresh water mussels to tropical corals.  Generally, if the target species is located within a specific right-of-way, they are then transplanted or moved to a new location.  Monitoring of the success and survival of the relocation or transplant can be performed to a predetermined time schedule. Our marine biology team recently completed two months of work while overseeing the transplantation of over 4000 coral colonies which were in the right-of-way for the construction of an offshore pipeline.

If underwater blasting is required, UCI can either provide the service to safely rid the blast affected zone of fish before charges are fired, or we can monitor the performance of this service by others.  Fish abatement can be accomplished through the use of bubble diffusers and confirmed by hydro acoustic monitoring or by other means.  We can also perform fish impingement studies for power plants and others with water intakes.

UCI has experience providing our clients with expert witness testimony before governmental regulatory bodies so as to assure these agencies that the environment is being protected.  When the regulatory agencies are satisfied, your project  will continue towards completion, thus avoiding the resulting delays that can be extremely costly to all parties.  When you're required to operate under environmental permits and regulations let UCI protect your interest for you.

This rock outcropping supported 2 species of coral which were transplanted; Montastrea cavernosa & Agaricia sp.	19 species of recently transplanted corals are represented in this photograph and all are in good health.	Another group of transplanted corals. These photos represent the monitoring requirements of the project.