Saving Seafood

Large vessels failing to obey speed limits to protect endangered whales, report finds

July 22, 2021 — Nearly 90 percent of large vessels traveling in some conservation areas along the East Coast violated mandatory speed limits established to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales, according to a new report.

The findings raised questions about the need for stricter enforcement of federal rules to protect right whales, whose numbers have fallen by about 25 percent over the past decade to roughly 360. Vessel strikes and entanglements in fishing gear have been the primary cause of death and serious injuries.

“Vessels are speeding, North Atlantic right whales are dying, and there’s not enough accountability,” said Whitney Webber, a campaign director at Oceana, an advocacy group, which released the report on Wednesday. “Oceana’s analysis shows that speeding vessels are rampant throughout North Atlantic right whales’ migration route, all along the East Coast, and in both mandatory and voluntary speed zones.”

Between 2017 and 2020, the report found that nearly 90 percent of vessels 65 feet or larger failed to reduce their speeds to 10 knots or less in the required speed zones along the coast from Wilmington, N.C., to Brunswick, Ga., near the whales’ calving grounds. Nearly 80 percent of the vessels also failed to comply with speed limits along the coasts of New York and New Jersey, while more than half of large vessels failed to comply near the entrance of Delaware Bay.

Read the full story at The Boston Globe

Slow Zone Southwest of Martha’s Vineyard to Protect Right Whales

July 6, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries announces a new voluntary right whale Slow Zone.  On July 2, 2021, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution acoustic buoy detected right whales southwest of Martha’s Vineyard.  This Slow Zone is in effect through July 18, 2021.

Mariners are requested to route around this or transit through it at 10 knots or less.

Slow Zone Coordinates:

Southwest of Martha’s Vineyard, July 2-18, 2021

41 23 N
40 44 N
071 16 W
070 23 W

See the coordinates for all the slow zones currently in effect.

Active Seasonal Management Areas 

Mandatory speed restrictions of 10 knots or less (50 CFR 224.105) are in effect in the following areas:

Great South Channel, April 1 – July 31

Find out more and get the coordinates for each mandatory slow speed zone.

Give Right Whales Room

North Atlantic right whales are on the move along the Atlantic coast of the U.S. NOAA is cautioning boaters and fishermen to give these endangered whales plenty of room. We are also asking all fishermen to be vigilant when maneuvering to avoid accidental collisions with whales and remove unused gear from the ocean to help avoid entanglements. Commercial fishermen should use vertical lines with required markings, weak links, and breaking strengths.

Right Whales in Trouble

North Atlantic right whales are protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Scientists estimate there are only about 400 remaining, making them one of the rarest marine mammals in the world.

North Atlantic right whales are NOAA Fisheries’ newest Species in the Spotlight. This initiative is a concerted, agency-wide effort to spotlight and save marine species that are among the most at risk of extinction in the near future. 

In August 2017, NOAA Fisheries declared the increase in right whale mortalities an “Unusual Mortality Event,” which helps the agency direct additional scientific and financial resources to investigating, understanding, and reducing the mortalities in partnership with the Marine Mammal Stranding Network, Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and outside experts from the scientific research community.

Read the full release here

Spencer Fullerton Baird: Founder of the Woods Hole Laboratory and Fisheries Science

June 18, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Spencer Fullerton Baird was born in Reading, Pennsylvania in 1823. Time spent as a child exploring the countryside with his brother fueled his passion for natural history. In 1838 he met John James Audubon, who gave him part of his bird collection, and encouraged young Baird’s interest in ornithology and collecting specimens.

He attended Dickinson College, receiving his bachelor’s degree in 1840. Baird then enrolled in the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York for a year, but decided he was not cut out for medical practice. He returned to Carlisle, Pennsylvania to continue his studies at Dickinson College. He received a master’s degree in 1843 and an honorary doctor of physical science degree in 1856

Baird was offered a teaching position at the college in 1845 as a professor of natural history. Popular with students for taking them into the field to study nature, he became chair of both the natural history and chemistry departments in 1848. He also served as librarian and curator of the college’s natural history collections.

Read the full release here

Meet Trevor Spradlin, Marine Mammal Biologist

June 18, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

What do you do at NOAA Fisheries?

I am a marine mammal biologist and have been at NOAA Fisheries for 26 years. I am currently the Deputy Chief for the Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Conservation Division in the Office of Protected Resources. I work with an amazing team of colleagues on a suite of conservation issues for whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, sea lions, and sea turtles. I help supervise the scientists and managers in the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program. The program coordinates and oversees the agency’s nationwide emergency response efforts to rescue marine mammals in distress, and investigates the health and health trends of marine mammal populations. I also work closely with our regional offices to develop and promote safe and responsible marine wildlife viewing practices. We encourage the public to learn about the animals in the wild without disturbing or harming them.

Tell us about your educational and career journey.

I was born and raised in Washington, D.C., so I am a city kid by birth but an ocean kid at heart. In my early years, I spent many weekends on the Chesapeake Bay and summer vacations at Atlantic coast beaches, which instilled a strong affinity for the ocean in me. I first became enamored with marine mammals at a very young age after visiting the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and experiencing the life-size models of whales and dolphins in the Ocean Hall. At the time, the museum had one of the few life-size models of a blue whale that existed in the world, and it was awe-inspiring to behold, especially as a small child.

I received my undergraduate degree from Boston University where I majored in Biology with a specialization in Marine Science and minored in Italian Studies. The Marine Science curriculum included a year at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. It was amazing to live on Cape Cod in a community so dedicated to marine science and conservation. I began volunteering at the New England Aquarium on weekends during my junior year of college. I assisted the wonderful curators who worked with the marine mammals in human care and responded to stranded animals. I volunteered for many years at the Aquarium and that experience opened numerous doors for me. I worked for several years for the pioneering marine mammal scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). I then worked at the Chicago Zoological Society/Dolphin Biology Research Institute on a suite of research projects investigating marine mammal behavior, acoustics, life history, and natural history.

Read the full release here

Underwater robot offers new insight into mid-ocean “twilight zone”

June 17, 2021 — The following was released by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution:

An innovative underwater robot known as Mesobot is providing researchers with deeper insight into the vast mid-ocean region known as the “twilight zone.” Capable of tracking and recording high-resolution images of slow-moving and fragile zooplankton, gelatinous animals, and particles, Mesobot greatly expands scientists’ ability to observe creatures in their mesopelagic habitat with minimal disturbance. This advance in engineering will enable greater understanding of the role these creatures play in transporting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to the deep sea, as well as how commercial exploitation of twilight zone fisheries might affect the marine ecosystem.

In a paper published June 16 in Science Robotics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) senior scientist Dana Yoerger presents Mesobot as a versatile vehicle for achieving a number of science objectives in the twilight zone.

“Mesobot was conceived to complement and fill important gaps not served by existing technologies and platforms,” said Yoerger. “We expect that Mesobot will emerge as a vital tool for observing midwater organisms for extended periods, as well as rapidly identifying species observed from vessel biosonars. Because Mesobot can survey, track, and record compelling imagery, we hope to reveal previously unknown behaviors, species interactions, morphological structures, and the use of bioluminescence.”

Co-authored by research scientists and engineers from WHOI, MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute), and Stanford University, the paper outlines the robot’s success in autonomously tracking two gelatinous marine creatures during a 2019 research cruise in Monterey Bay. High-definition video revealed a “dinner plate” jellyfish “ramming” a siphonophore, which narrowly escaped the jelly’s venomous tentacles. Mesobot also recorded a 30-minute video of a giant larvacean, which appears to be nearly motionless but is actually riding internal waves that rise and fall 6 meters (20 feet). These observations represent the first time that a self-guided robot has tracked these small, clear creatures as they move through the water column like a “parcel of water,” said Yoerger.

“Mesobot has the potential to change how we observe animals moving through space and time in a way that we’ve never been able to do before,” said Kakani Katija, MBARI principal engineer. “As we continue to develop and improve on the vehicle, we hope to observe many other mysterious and captivating animals in the midwaters of the ocean, including the construction and disposal of carbon-rich giant larvacean ‘snot palaces.’”

Read the full release here

Papers Explore Massive Plankton Blooms with Very Different Ecosystem Impacts

June 8, 2021 — The following was released by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution:

“The big mystery about plankton is what controls its distribution and abundance, and what conditions lead to big plankton blooms,” said Dennis McGillicuddy, Senior Scientist and Department Chair in Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).

Two new papers explore this question and provide examples of conditions that lead to massive plankton blooms with vastly different potential impacts on the ecosystem, according to McGillicuddy, co-author of both papers. Both papers also point to importance of using advanced technology—including Video Plankton Recorders, autonomous underwater vehicles, and the Ocean Observatories Initiative’s Coastal Pioneer Array—to find and monitor these blooms.

In one paper, Diatom Hotspots Driven by Western Boundary Current Instability, published in Geophysical Research Letters (GRL), scientists found unexpectedly productive subsurface hotspot blooms of diatom phytoplankton.

In the GRL paper, researchers investigated the dynamics controlling primary productivity in a region of the Mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB), one of the world’s most productive marine ecosystems. In 2019, they observed unexpected diatom hotspots in the slope region of the bight’s euphotic zone, the ocean layer that receives enough light for photosynthesis to occur. Phytoplankton are photosynthetic microorganisms that are the foundation of the aquatic food web.

Read the full release here

Entanglements in fishing gear stunting growth of right whales, study finds

June 4, 2021 — Entanglements in fishing gear, which have been among the leading causes of death of North Atlantic right whales, are likely also stunting their growth and causing the critically endangered species to reproduce less often, a new study found.

The research raises questions about the findings of a major report on the species released last month by the federal government and could have a significant impact on how it regulates the lobster industry, which has been the primary source of entanglements. The population of right whales has plummeted over the past decade by a quarter, with scientists estimating that fewer than 370 remain.

The long-term study, published Thursday in the journal Current Biology, estimated that a calf born in recent years was likely, when mature, to be about 3 feet shorter in length than those born in the 1980s. Entanglements have become more of a problem for whales in recent decades, as ropes have increasingly used synthetic materials and become stronger.

“Stunting of growth is a classic sign that a species is in trouble,” said Michael Moore, a senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and a coauthor of the study. “Smaller mothers are less capable of being successful breeders, because they have a smaller fuel tank and less lactation. That’s the biggest concern.”

He and other authors said the findings call into question a long-awaited report released last month by the National Marine Fisheries Service that found the lobster industry isn’t jeopardizing the survival of right whales. A federal judge last year ordered the agency to produce the report, known as a biological opinion, after rulingthat it had violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to reduce entanglements.

Read the full story at The Boston Globe

Ken Sherman: Plankton Biologist With A Global Perspective

April 26, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Ken Sherman’s long career began with a fascination with fish at an early age. He was born in 1932 and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, where he spent time as a boy with his father at the Boston Fish Pier, watching the fishermen bringing in their catch. Although he intended to get a law degree while at Suffolk University, a mentor steered him  toward his earlier interest in marine biology. He graduated in 1954 with a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences.

Not long after, he visited Woods Hole and applied for a job at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. While waiting for an opening, he taught science in elementary schools in western Massachusetts for the Audubon Society, taking live animals from school to school. In 1956 he was offered an entry-level biological position at the federal fisheries laboratory in Woods Hole. Turns out his application had been forwarded from the oceanographic institution down the street. His job: interviewing fishermen at the dock and collecting data on fish.

While working at the fish pier he took classes in marine ecology at Boston University, and later applied for an Office of Naval Research fellowship at the University of Rhode Island. He was accepted into the master’s degree program in biological oceanography at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography. He worked under mentors Charles and Marie Poland Fish as one of five Navy-supported fellows.

After graduating in 1959 and waiting for a fishery research position to open, Sherman took a position as a biology teacher at Randolph High School. At the end of his first year of teaching, a biological research position with the federal Bureau of Commercial Fisheries opened in Hawaii. He jumped at the chance, and with his wife Roberta, also a teacher, moved to Honolulu for three years.

Read the full release here

Extended Slow Zones to Protect Right Whales

March 1, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries announces the extension of three voluntary right whale Slow Zones (1) south of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, (2) east of Boston, Massachusetts and (3) southeast of Atlantic City, New Jersey.

On February 26, 2021, the New England Aquarium’s survey team observed the presence of right whales south of Nantucket. The Nantucket Slow Zone is in effect through March 13, 2021.

On February 27, 2021, Rutgers University and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution slocum gliders detected the presence of right whales east of Boston, MA and southeast of Atlantic City, NJ. These Slow Zones are in effect through March 14, 2021.

Mariners are requested to route around these areas or transit through them at 10 knots or less.

Slow Zone Coordinates:

Southeast of Atlantic City, in effect through March 14, 2021

39 25 N
38 44 N
073 44 W
074 36 W

East of Boston, in effect through March 14, 2021

42 40 N
42 00 N
069 57 W
070 52 W

South of Nantucket, in effect through March 13, 2021

41 23 N
40 40 N
069 39 W
070 35 W

See the coordinates for all the slow zones currently in effect.

Read the full release here

WHOI and NOAA fisheries release new North Atlantic right whale health assessment review

February 25, 2021 — Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) along with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries have released the first broad scale synthesis of available information derived from right whale health assessment techniques. The manuscript published today in the science journal Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, reviews available tools, and current understanding of the health status and trends of individual whales and the species. The paper concludes with recommendations for additional information needs and necessary management actions to enhance the health of individual right whales.

The manuscript is the result of a NOAA Fisheries workshop held in June 2019, in response to the ongoing North Atlantic right whale Unusual Mortality Event (UME) and the critically endangered status of the species. There are an estimated 366 left on the planet. Climate change, vessel strikes, entanglements and noise pollution can result in poor health and reproductive failure and are major threats to individuals and the species.

According to lead author Michael Moore, a whale trauma specialist at WHOI, “North Atlantic right whales face a serious risk of extinction, but there is hope if we can work together on solutions. Trauma reduction measures and applying new tools to assess their health are critically important to enhance the welfare of individual whales. If we can reduce the number of deaths, and successfully improve their health to increase reproduction, the current decline in population can be reversed.”

Read the full story at EurekAlert