Lines of Research

Derek Cavatorta, a WHOI summer student fellow in 2003, turns a winch to drag marine-grade rope lines across a piece of whale baleen (suspended in the tank). Cavatorta worked with WHOI biologist Michael Moore to investigate the amount of drag exerted by different types of rope on baleen plates in order to find samples that might be less likely to snag and cut whales.
(Photo by Tom Kleindinst, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)