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WHOI in the News


On the Verge of Extinction, These Whales Are Also Shrinking

New York Times
new york times

Most of the 360 or so North Atlantic right whales alive today bear scars from entanglements in fishing gear and collisions with speeding ships and, according to new study, they are much smaller than they should be. According to the authors of the new study, the best way to ensure the continued survival of the species is to pressure fishery managers in the United States and Canada to significantly reduce the amount of rope-based fishing gear and implement ship speed limits in the North Atlantic. “We all consume goods moved by the sea, and many eat lobsters,” said Michael Moore, a senior scientist with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and co-author of the study. “If we all were to demand these management changes of our elected officials the situation would change drastically.”

Say hello to a vast underground ecosystem

MSU Today

The research team — led by Karen Lloyd, an associate professor at the University of Tennessee, and Donato Giovannelli, a professor at the University of Naples Federico II in Italy — found that this microbial ecosystem sequesters a huge amount of carbon dioxide.

A Robot Like This Could Swim At Jupiter’s Water-Spewing Moon

Forbes

A NASA mission called Europa Clipper may, if funding and development timelines hold, launch in 2024 to do an orbital survey with the latest instruments and potentially, to pick some landing spots for a future spacecraft. And unlike the rovers we are used to on Mars, this futuristic robot is going to have to swim.

A Rusting Oil Tanker Off the Coast of Yemen Is an Environmental Catastrophe Waiting to Happen. Can Anyone Prevent It?

TIME

Viviane Menezes, a marine scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts, has described the Red Sea as being like a “big lagoon” with “everything connected.” An oil spill at any time of year would be disastrous, she says, but seasonally variable weather and tidal patterns make contingency planning difficult. In the summer, Red Sea currents would drag an oil slick south, threatening Eritrea and Djibouti, and potentially entering the Gulf of Aden. In winter, circular currents would swirl more of the oil north.

WHOI to Launch New Center for Ocean and Climate Research

ON&T

“This extraordinary gift,” said WHOI President and Director, Peter de Menocal, “will propel critical work that is needed to understand and elucidate the interplay between the global ocean, Earth’s climate, and human societies.”

Consortium For Combatting Global Climate Change

electronicsforu.com

Designed to act as an engine for continuous innovation and powered by some of the world’s leading minds and businesses, the OCIA consortium is open to participation by a wide range of leading organisations across business, academia and non-profits that recognise the inextricable links between ocean and climate and wish to have a positive impact on the global climate crisis.

State waters remain closed to lobstermen

yahoo! news

Also, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute’s Slocum underwater glider on Sunday acoustically detected the presence of North Atlantic right whales north of Cape Cod and NOAA Fisheries on Monday instituted a voluntary right whale slow zone north of Cape Cod until May 17.