Marine Mammals
Fishing less could be a win for both lobstermen and endangered whales
A new study found that New England’s historic lobster fishery may turn a higher profit by operating with less gear in the water and a shorter season, which could also benefit endangered North Atlantic right whales.
Read MoreA win for lobstermen and right whales
A study from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution found a win for New England’s historic lobster fishery and for endangered right whales. Researchers Hannah Myers and Michael Moore show that even with less gear and a shorter season, fishers in Canada, Maine and Massachusetts caught about the same number of lobsters with much less effort. A change in regulations could protect whales and make the lobster fishery more profitable in the long term.
Read MoreEndangered North Atlantic right whales return to Canadian waters
For North Atlantic right whales as individuals, and as a species, things are going terribly wrong,” said Michael Moore from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
In another significant ruling for right whales, a federal judge rules that Massachusetts is violating the Endangered Species Act
Michael Moore, director of the Marine Mammal Center at WHOI, lauded the ruling, saying the “judge understands the simple truth that if there is rope in the water column, and whales come and go in the region, entanglement risk is real, and significant in terms of mortality and morbidity, especially for reproductive success.”
North Atlantic right whales are in much poorer condition than their Southern counterparts
New research by an international team of scientists reveals that endangered North Atlantic right whales are in much poorer body condition than their counterparts in the southern hemisphere.
Read MoreWHOI joins effort to accelerate marine life protection technology
WHOI has teamed up with Greentown Labs and Vineyard Wind to launch the Offshore Wind Challenge. The program, which is also partnering with New England Aquarium, calls on entrepreneurs to submit proposals to collect, transmit, and analyze marine mammal monitoring data using remote technologies, such as underwater vehicles, drones, and offshore buoys.
Read MorePop-up pots and the search for ‘whale-safe’ gear
Mark Baumgartner, associate scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, has talked about the entanglement issue with Porter and believes ropeless fishing can work, and that it may be the best option for enabling fishermen and whales to share the same waters.
Special Virtual Biology Department Seminar: Drivers of Echolocation and Biosonar-Based Foraging in Social Cetaceans
Frants Jensen, WHOI Sponsored by: Biology Department This will be held virtually over Webex. If you wish to view the…
Read MoreSpecial Biology Department Seminar: The Role of Sociality in Cetacean Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation
Amy van Cise, Cascadia Research Collective Sponsored by: Biology Department This will be held virtually over Webex. If you…
Read MoreAs North Atlantic right whales slide toward extinction, a desperate search for hope
For the species to survive, they need to be producing closer to 29 calves a year, said Michael Moore, director of the Marine Mammal Center at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Oases in Sea Ice Are Essential to Life in Antarctica
This video explains the key physical, biological and ecological processes in oases on the Antarctic icy coast — polynyas. Researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the University of Delaware are trying to unveil crucial connections among the physical and biological components in the polynyas and to understand how the Antarctic ecosystem responds to changes in the large-scale environment.
Read MoreWhale Blow Microbiome
Researchers from WHOI, NOAA Fisheries Southwest Science Center, SR3 Sealife, and the Vancouver Aquarium analyzed whale blow samples collected via drone to identify a core group of bacteria in the respiratory tract of healthy whales.
Read MoreWhale Biopsy Collection
A team gathers skin samples from healthy humpback whales in waters off the Western Antarctic Peninsula. Researchers obtain samples by releasing a biopsy-collecting dart, which bounces off the whales’ skin and into the water. The team then retrieves the floating dart and brings it back to a lab for analysis.
Read MoreGirls in Science Program: bioacoustics
August 2019: Woods Hole Sea Grant has teamed up with Earthwatch Institute on the Girls in Science Fellowship. This fellowship aims to promote diversity and expose young women to a variety of marine careers in STEM. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Research Specialist Laela Sayigh is the principal investigator working with the fellows analyzing marine mammal bioacoustics data.
Read MoreClassification of Marine Mammal Vocalizations in Seismic Environment
Thomas Guilment, University of Louisiana, Lafayette Sponsored by: AOP&E Department
Read MoreRight Whales
The North Atlantic right whale is one of the most endangered whales in the world—only roughly 400 remain. Learn how…
Read MoreWhales may owe their efficient digestion to millions of tiny microbes
A study by NSF-funded researchers at WHOI shows that the microbial communities inside whales may play an important role in the digestion of one of the ocean’s most abundant carbon-rich lipids: wax esters.
Offshore Wind May Help The Planet — But Will It Hurt Whales?
As whale populations have grown, the WCS and its collaborator, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, have been monitoring them, with an eye toward mediating conflicts with the ocean’s heaviest users: cargo ships, commercial fishing trawlers and the U.S. military.
Whales may owe their efficient digestion to millions of tiny microbes
A study by researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) shows that the microbial communities inside whales may play an important role in the digestion of one of the ocean’s most abundant carbon-rich lipids, known as a wax ester.
Read MoreRight whale population drops to 409, as consortium urges more action
“Yet another year of decline for right whales,” said Consortium Chairman and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution researcher Mark Baumgartner.
I spy a pilot whale
This spy-hopping adult female short-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus) was photographed offshore of Hawai‘i Island while checking out the Cascadia…
Read MoreScientists meeting in Portland say right whales on the way to extinction
The future continues to grow ever darker for the highly endangered right whale, a species that has been in decline every year since 2010 and is at the heart of regulatory protection efforts threatening to upend Maine’s valuable lobster fishery.
SeaWorld & Busch Gardens conservation fund commits $900,000 to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales
The funding provided by the SeaWorld Conservation Fund will be primarily used to test alternative non-lethal fishing gear. Whales and sea turtles commonly entangle in ropes that connect crab or lobster traps on the sea floor to buoys on the sea surface.
Read MoreConservation of Endangered Marine Species in the Eastern Tropical Pacific
Randall Arauz, Migramar and Fins Attached Marine Research and Conservation Sponsored by: Biology Department
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