A network of coastal observatories is being built around the United States. While the motivations for developing these systems do not originate from marine sanctuaries per se, the sanctuaries stand to gain an unprecedented opportunity to benefit from real-time data and nowcasting/forecasting models. The construction of the observatories is being fueled by the rapid development in three enabling observational technologies. These technologies include (1) data acquisition systems that track the international constellation of IR and ocean color satellites; (2) nested grids multi-static SeaSonde surface current radars; and (3) a growing fleet of autonomous underwater vehicles. These observational assets are coupled to nowcast/forecast data assimilative models. These systems will allow the mean behavior in marine ecosystems to be defined while also providing real-time data that will allow adaptive sampling. The ability to adaptively sample the environment will allow scientists to make shrewd decisions about when and where to sample. Given this, developing the new approaches to measure critical biological processes and the geographic boundaries of those processes should be a key focus for the marine biology community. This will alter how scientists approach scientific questions in coastal waters.

The increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), originating largely from human fossil fuel combustion and deforestation since the beginning of the industrial era, is causing a decrease in ocean pH and changes to seawater carbonate chemistry. This process, termed ocean acidification, is now well established from modeling and field data, and the rate of change in ocean pH and carbon chemistry is expected to increase significantly over this century unless future CO 2 emissions are restricted dramatically. The rate of CO 2 increase is the fastest the Earth has experienced in 65 million years , and the current concentration is estimated to be the highest in, at least, the past 50 million years (Zachos et al., 2008). Central to predicting the atmospheric carbon inventory during the 21st century will be understanding and predicting the adjustments in the ocean uptake and exchange of both anthropogenic and natural CO 2 . To quantify these changes on a global scale, an international interdisciplinary program of ship-based hydrography, time-series moorings, floats and gliders with carbon, pH and oxygen sensors, and ecological surveys is already underway. This program together with implementations of molecular technology will help scientists determine the extent of the large-scale