The latest version of the Quarterly Currents v3.1-2 (Feburary 1, 2019 to July 31, 2019) newsletter is now available. We are well into monitoring year 8! Gulf Watch Alaska (GWA) principal investigators (PIs) have been monitoring away and data continues to flow. This year the program is focused on science syntheses and we will be submitting a science synthesis report to the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council (EVOSTC) in advance of attending their synthesis workshop in early 2020. The theme of our synthesis products will be long-term monitoring and the marine heat wave. The marine heat wave has certainly made its way into the public eye as reports highlight anomalous ocean conditions, mass die-offs of marine birds and mammals, and disease outbreaks. This has definitely piqued the interest of our PIs and their long-term datasets will be useful in gauging the intensity of these perturbations. Who said monitoring was boring? A brief summary of our program’s activities and accomplishments is available in this latest issue.