Latest Gulf of Maine Stories

April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online The way scientists monitor and manage red tides or harmful algal blooms (HABs) in New England may be transformed by a new robotic sensor deployed in the Gulf of Maine coastal waters by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). WHOI launched the new instrument at the end of last month and expects to deploy a second system later this spring. The robotic sensor will add critical data to weekly real-time forecasts of the New England...

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution A continental-scale chemical survey in the waters of the eastern U.S. and Gulf of Mexico is helping researchers determine how distinct bodies of water will resist changes in acidity. The study, which measures varying levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other forms of carbon in the ocean, was conducted by scientists from 11 institutions across the U.S. and was published in the journal Limnology and Oceanography. “Before now, we haven't had a very...

redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online Two underwater robots with instruments that detect the calls of baleen whales heard the ‘songs’ of nine critically endangered North Atlantic right whales in the Gulf of Maine in December, scientists reported on Wednesday. Right whales, which can weigh as much as 140,000 pounds and grow up to 55 feet in length, are thought to use the area every year between November and January as a mating ground, said researchers from Woods...

Whale feces -- should you be forced to consider such matters -- probably conjures images of, well, whale-scale hunks of crud, heavy lumps that sink to the bottom. But most whales actually deposit waste that floats at the surface of the ocean, "very liquidy, a flocculent plume," says University of Vermont whale biologist, Joe Roman.And this liquid fecal matter, rich in nutrients, has a huge positive influence on the productivity of ocean fisheries, Roman and his colleague, James...

Toxic bloom expected to be smaller than last year, but still significantThe potential for an outbreak of the phenomenon commonly called "red tide" is expected to be "moderately large" this spring and summer, according to researchers with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and North Carolina State University (NCSU).This advisory is based in part on a regional seafloor survey of quantities of Alexandrium fundyense "” the algae notorious for producing a toxin...

Lobstermen Collaborate with NOAA Lab and Marine Science Students New England lobstermen have gone high tech by adding low-cost instruments to their lobster pots that record bottom temperature and provide data that could help improve ocean circulation models in the Gulf of Maine.Environmental Monitors on Lobster Traps, or eMOLT, is a partnership involving NOAA, the Maine, Massachusetts, Downeast and Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen's Associations, the Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation, and the...

A new breeding ground for endangered whales seems to have emerged in the Gulf of Maine this week. The aerial survey, which found 44 right whales, may help in coordinating efforts to protect them. In the past two centuries, whales have been hunted nearly into extinction according to researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "We're excited because seeing 44 right whales together in the Gulf of Maine is a record for the winter months, when daily observations of...

EZ Pass for Fish Helps Ocean Tracking Network Locate Salmon from Maine off Halifax, Nova ScotiaFor years scientists have struggled to understand the decline and slow recovery of Atlantic salmon, a once abundant and highly prized game and food fish native to New England rivers. Biologists agree that poor marine survival is affecting salmon in the U.S. and Canada, but specific causes are difficult to determine in the ocean. Small acoustic tags and associated technology may provide some...

By KEVIN MILLER; OF THE NEWS STAFF A University of Maine researcher told members of Congress on Tuesday that offshore wind power offers enormous potential for helping wean the U.S. off its fossil fuel dependence and that Maine is ready to lead the charge in developing the technology. Habib Joseph Dagher, director of the Advanced Structures and Composites Laboratory at UMaine, said the Gulf of Maine alone contains 100 gigawatts of wind energy potential. That is equivalent to roughly 10...

By Kevin Miller, Bangor Daily News, Maine Jul. 23--A University of Maine researcher told members of Congress on Tuesday that offshore wind power offers enormous potential for helping wean the U.S. off its fossil fuel dependence and that Maine is ready to lead the charge in developing the technology. Habib Joseph Dagher, director of the Advanced Structures and Composites Laboratory at UMaine, said the Gulf of Maine alone contains 100 gigawatts of wind energy potential. That is equivalent to...