Anthony F. Amos

Research Affiliate - Research Fellow
Marine Science Institute
Physical Oceanography

The University of Texas at Austin
Marine Science Institute
750 Channel View Drive
Port Aransas, TX 78373-5015 USA

Telephones: 361-749-6720; 361-442-7638
Fax: 361-749-6777
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Tony Amos has been with The University of Texas Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas for the past 33 years. He officially retired in 2003 but continues an active role in the University as a Research Fellow doing long-term observations on Mustang and San Jose Island Gulf beaches, and directing the Animal Rehabilitation Keep (ARK). His oceanographic career has spanned 47 years first at Columbia University’s Lamont Geological Observatory before coming to UTMSI in 1976. He has participated in research expeditions to all the world's oceans and many of its seas, including 35 cruises to the Antarctic and five to the Arctic. He is a holder of the US Antarctic Service Medal. In Texas he has studied several aspects of near-shore and bay and estuarine processes (circulation, currents, hydrography, and tides) and has conducted a long-term study of the barrier island beaches which is now in its 31st year. To date 4,200 separate surveys have been conducted on Mustang Island and 520 on San Jose Island, counting birds, people, marine debris, and measuring beach widths, dune erosion/accretion, sea temperature and salinity. In addition, over 500 separate surveys have been made specifically to assess the marine debris problem. Amos has served on National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council Marine Board Committees on Marine Debris in 1993 and 2008, and various EPA, MMS, and other committees on the marine debris problem. He is a member of the New York Academy of Science, the American Geophysical Union, the Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network, the Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network, and an Honorary Lifetime Member of the Texas Marine Educators Association,. He is the Port Aransas Cooperative Weather Observer for the National Weather Service, and writes an weekly column for the Port Aransas South Jetty Newspaper. In 1996 he was selected as one of the "Texas Twenty" by Texas Monthly magazine for his work on the environment. Tony is also the founder of the ARK (Animal Rehabilitation Keep), a facility for helping injured sea turtles and marine and aquatic birds.
Selected Publications
Committee on the Effectiveness of International and National Measures to Prevent and Reduce Marine Debris and Its Impacts (2008). Tackling Marine Debris in the 21st Century. Ocean Studies Board, Div. Earth and Life Studies, National Research Council of the National Academies. National Academy Press: Washington, D.C. (206pp).
Fertl, D., A.J. Schiro, G.T. Regan, C.A. Beck, N. Adimey, L. Price-May, A. Amos, G.A.J.                 Worthy, and R. Crossland, 2005. Manatee occurrence in the northern Gulf of Mexico, west of Florida. Gulf and Caribbean Research 17: 69-94.
Amos, A.F., Andrea Bohn, and L.M. Amos, 2003. Twice-tumbled: prairie grasses as a marine            micro-habitat. Gulf Estuarine Research Soc., April 2003.
Amos, A.F. 2001. A decade of oceanographic variability in summertime in the Elephant Island, Antarctica area. J. Geophys. Res. Oceans 106(C10):22401-22423.
Amos, A.F. 2000. 21 Years of Shoreline Changes on Mustang Island Gulf Beach. Final Report to Texas General Land Office, Contract 98-291R, 118 pp + Appendix.
Buskey, E.J., P.A. Montagna, A.F. Amos, and T.E. Whitledge. 1997. The initiation of the Texas brown tide algal bloom: Disruption of grazer populations as a contributing factor.  Limnology and Oceanography 42:1215-1222.
Amos, A.F. 1996. The Gulf of Mexico: Marine pollution. Proceedings, The Philosophical Society of Texas, Dec. 1-3, 1995, Corpus Christi, TX, pp 49-67.
Committee on Shipborne Wastes. 1995. Clean Ships, Clean Ports, Clean Oceans—Controlling garbage and plastic wastes at sea. Marine Board, Commission on Engineering and Technical Systems, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences. National Academy Press: Washington, DC (355 pp.).
Plotkin, P.T., M.K. Wicksten, and A.F. Amos. 1993. Feeding ecology of the loggerhead turtle, Caretta, in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. Marine Biology 115:1-15.
Amos, A.F. 1993. Technical assistance for the development of beach debris data collection. UTMSI Tech. Rept 93-005. 45pp.
Niiler, P.P., A.F. Amos and J.-H. Hu. 1991. Water masses and 200-db relative geostrophic circulation in the western Bransfield Strait. Deep-Sea Research 38(8/9A):943-959.
Peabody, L. and A.F. Amos. 1989. Gilbert's effect on sea surface temperature. Mariner's Weather Log 33(2):12.
Shaver, D.J. and A.F. Amos. 1988. Sea turtle nesting on Texas beaches in 1987. Marine Turtle Newsletter 42:7-9.
Amos, A.F. 1987. Shipboard observations of a giant iceberg near Clarence Island, South Shetlands. Iceberg Research 14:14-17.
Amos, A.F. 1984. The large-scale hydrography of the Southern Ocean and the distribu­tion of krill (Euphausia superba). J. Crust. Biol. Suppl. 4(4):306-329.
Amos, A.F., S.C. Rabalais, and R.S. Scalan. 1983. Oil-filled Callianassa burrows on a Texas barrier island beach.  J. Sed. Petrol. 53(2):412-416.
Stommel, H., R.J. Stanley, G.P. Knapp, R. Knox, and A.F. Amos. 1983. Descent of bottom water along the rise in the Brazilian Basin. J. Phys. Oceanogr. 13(3):554-558.
Amos, A.F. 1980. LONGHORN Reports: The Ixtoc Oil Spill, Part I: Field observations, Jul.-Nov. 1979, The Univ. Texas at Austin, Marine Science Institute, Tech. Rep. 284 pp., 120 figures, 8 tables, appendix.
Amos, A.F. 1980. The oiling of shorebirds on a south Texas barrier island following the Ixtoc oil spill. 98th Stated Annual Mtg., Amer. Ornithol. Union, Fort Collins, CO, Aug. 12.
Jacobs, S.S., A.L. Gordon, and A.F. Amos. 1979. Effects of glacial ice melting on the Antarctic surface water. Nature 277:5696.
Amos, A.F. and R.D. Gerard. 1979. Anomalous bottom water south of the Grand Banks suggests turbidity current activity. Science 203:894-897.
Amos, A.F. 1979. Report on the Christmas Bird Count taken on a pelagic trip in the Antarctic. American Birds 33(4):333 plus photography (327).
Amos, A.F. 1978. A green iceberg sampled in the Weddell Sea. Antarctic J. U.S., Vol. XIII:63-64.
Amos, A.F. 1976. The New York Bight and Hudson Canyon in October 1974: hydro­graphy, nephelometry, bottom photography and currents, VEMA 32 (Leg 1) data. Lamont-Doherty Geol. Observ., Tech. Rep. COO-2185-10, pp 192
Eittreim, S., P.E. Biscaye, and A.F. Amos. 1975. Benthic nepheloid layers and the Ekman thermal pump. J. Geophys. Res. 80(36):5061-5067.
Amos, A.F. and A.L. Gordon. 1973. Report of the Task Group on Continuously Sampled Data. Ocean Sciences Committee, National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council, Washington, D.C., pp 57.
Amos, A.F., M.R. Langseth, and R. Markl. 1972. Visible oceanic saline fronts. Studies in Physical Oceanography: A Tribute to George Wüst on his 80th Birthday. A.L. Gordon (ed.), Gordon and Breach, London, pp. 49-62.
Amos, A.F., A.L. Gordon, and E.D. Schneider. 1971. Water masses and circulation patterns in the region of the Blake-Bahama Outer Ridge. Deep-Sea Res. 18(2):145-165.
Jacobs, S.S., A.F. Amos, and P.R. Bruchhausen. 1970. Ross Sea oceanography and Antarctic Bottom Water formation. Deep-Sea Res.17:935-962.
Gerard, R.D. and A.F. Amos. 1968. A surface-actuated multiple sampler. Marine Sciences Instrumentation, Vol. 4, Plenum Press, New York, pp. 682-686.
Jacobs, S.S. and A.F. Amos. 1967. Physical and chemical oceanographic observations in the Southern Ocean, USNS ELTANIN Cruises 22-27, 1966-67. Lamont Geo­logical Observ. Tech. Rep. CU-2663-38, pp 287.
Amos, A.F. 1966. Physical oceanographic observations in the Indian Ocean using a continuously recording salinity/temperature/depth sensor. Internatl. Indian Ocean Exped. Lamont Geological Observ. Rep., pp 188.