Sharks & Other Fish
Tagging Sharks to Study the Twilight Zone
Former WHOI Joint Program graduate student and current University of Washington postdoc Camrin Braun and his team on the charter fishing vessel Machaca managed to tag two porbeagles, a relative of the goblin shark, about 30 miles east of Chatham, Mass. One was a female nearly seven feet long and weighing 270 pounds. A male came alongside the boat while the team was tagging her and, when they were finished, they quickly hooked the curious male, which measured 6.5 feet and weighed 230 pounds.
Both fish are now equipped with fin-mounted SPOT satellite tags, which will report their location each time they surface and can last up to five years. For the Ocean Twilight Zone team, the big predators are an important indicator of where mesopelagic animals are collecting deep below the surface. In short, the predator will go where the prey is.
Read MoreWhale sharks are on the move, but why?
Whale sharks are endangered, hard to track, and minimally protected, but thanks to a new tracking study and a lot more information, scientists have been able to monitor the movement of these gentle ocean giants.
Climate change threatens everyone’s favorite little fish
The well-being of the colorful clownfish of “Finding Nemo” fame is closely tied to its habitat among the sea anemone, according to a 10-year study by an international team of scientists. The little fish does not appear to have the ability to adapt to the rapid environmental effects of climate change.
Clownfish can’t adapt to rapid environmental changes
The beloved anemone fish popularized by the movies “Finding Nemo” and “Finding Dory” don’t have the genetic capacity to adapt to rapid changes in their environment, according to a new study in the journal Ecology Letters.
Read MoreRed Sea ‘hotspot’ study reveals behaviors of whale sharks
A new study of whale shark movements near a known hotspot in the Red Sea sheds light on their behaviors and could help inform the conservation efforts of the largest known fish, which can reach lengths of 40 feet or more.
Read MoreFollowing the elusive sword
Satellite tags allow researchers to “see” how swordfish move in and out of the ocean twilight zone.
Read MoreMBL Falmouth Forum: Living with White Sharks
Gregory Skomal, Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries Sponsored by: MBL
Read MoreBasking sharks filmed by an AUV for the first time
Three things you may not know about basking sharks:
1. The basking shark is the 2nd largest fish in the ocean.
2. While it’s gaping mouth can fit a human, it filter feeds on tiny plankton.
3. WHOI’s SharkCam captured the first Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) footage of basking sharks.
Learn more here: go.whoi.edu/basking-sharkcam
Scientists Team With Fishermen on Tracking Technology
Scientists from the Center for Coastal Studies and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution are working with local commercial fishermen to install video monitoring equipment on gillnets.
Blue sharks use eddies for fast track to food
Blue sharks use large, swirling ocean currents, known as eddies, to fast-track their way down to feed in the ocean twilight zone—a layer of the ocean between 200 and 1000 meters deep containing the largest fish biomass on Earth, according to new research by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the Applied Physics Lab at the University of Washington (UW).
Read MoreSharkCam reveals secret lives of basking sharks in UK
An autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) known as the REMUS SharkCam has been used in the UK for the first time to observe the behaviour of basking sharks in the Inner Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland.
Read MoreA tunnel to the Twilight Zone
Scientists track hungry blue sharks as they ride swirling currents down to the ocean twilight zone—a layer of the ocean containing the largest fish biomass on Earth
Read MoreSharks & Other Fish
Fish serve important ecological and economic functions. Ecologically, they are both predator and prey, providing food for other animals, and serve to keep the numbers of prey species in check, many of which could destroy important ecosystems such as coral reefs and mangroves if their numbers are allowed to grow.
Read MoreShark Facts
What are they? Sharks are elasmobranchs, a group of animals that includes rays and skates, whose members have a skeleton…
Read MoreFlounder Now Tumor-free in Boston Harbor
In the late 1980s, more than three-quarters of the winter flounder caught in Boston Harbor – one of the most polluted harbors in America – showed signs of liver disease, many of them with cancerous tumors. But now, a scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) has documented a dramatic rebound in flounder health spurred by decades of remediation efforts, including a $3.8 billion project to construct a sewage treatment plant and a 9.5-mile discharge tunnel with a 6,600-foot-long outfall diffuser. The findings appear in the Nov. 20, 2018 issue of the journal Diseases of Aquatic Organisms.
Read MoreThe Secret Tuna Nursery
WHOI biologists and physical oceanographers combine expertise to reveal a place in the ocean where some tuna are born.
Read MoreSharks Take ‘Tunnels’ into the Depths
By tagging sharks, WHOI scientists have revealed their surprising behavior.
Read MoreMission to the Ocean Twilight Zone
The twilight zone is a part of the ocean 660 to 3,300 feet below the surface, where little sunlight can reach. It is deep and dark and cold, and the pressures there are enormous. Despite these challenging conditions, the twilight zone teems with life that helps support the ocean’s food web and is intertwined with Earth’s climate. Some countries are gearing up to exploit twilight zone fisheries, with unknown impacts for marine ecosystems and global climate. Scientists and engineers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution are poised to explore and investigate this hidden frontier.
Read MoreOn the Trail of Sea Life with an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle
quotes Amy Kukulya, Kara Dodge
The Marine Reserve Goldilocks Problem
To protect coral reefs, governments and conservationists are looking to establish networks of marine reserves, where fishing is prohibited. But…
Read MoreStudy: Great white sharks are swimming farther and deeper
mentions WHOI
picked up by other major news outlets: The Washington Post, ABC News, CBS Boston
When the Hunter Became the Hunted
In waters off Mexico’s Guadalupe Island, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) engineers deployed the REMUS SharkCam, a torpedo-shaped robotic vehicle…
Read MoreGreat white shark GPS tag recovered along NC coast
mentions WHOI
A Big Decline of River Herring
River herring used to run up coastal streams in great numbers in springtime, returning from the ocean to spawn in fresh water. But their populations have plummeted. WHOI biologist Joel Llopiz is investigating critical gaps in understanding river herring’s larval stage just after they hatch.
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