FALMOUTH, Mass. — Spetember 20, 2012 — What is the acidification of the oceans going to do to the scallop population? That's the question the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will try to answer with a $682,000, three-year, federal grant, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Wednesday.
The oceans are absorbing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and it is believed that scallops are quite sensitive to those changes.
"Species such as scallops and coral are vulnerable," NOAA said in its announcement. Changing conditions "can affect the growth of their shells and skeletons."
The grant is part of nearly $1.6 million going to three institutions involved in similar research.
The State University of New York at Stony Brook gets $533,000 to tackle acidification and its effect on bay scallops.
Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard Times