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Prey-tell: Why Right Whales Linger in the Gulf of Maine

By Guest PostApril 27, 2011Nature, Sciencealgae eating copepod, baleen whales, behavior of the whales, calanus finmarchicus, dramatic impact, endangered animals, gulf of maine, mark baumgartner, nantucket, north atlantic, sand lance, sei whales, vertical migration, vertical migration behavior, whale population, whales, whoi, woods hole oceanographic institution

As they might with most endangered animals, scientists consider the whereabouts and activities of right whales extremely important. “It is helpful to know where they go, why they go there and what they do when they’re there,” says Mark F. Baumgartner of the biology department at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).

Baumgartner and his colleagues studied the behavior of right whales and sei whales—both endangered species of baleen whales—in the waters of the Gulf of Maine to the east of Nantucket. They found that the location, the length of stay, and perhaps the very abundance of the whales may be dependent on an interesting vertical migration pattern by the copepods on which the whales feed. It seems to be a case, he said, of “how the behavior of the prey influences the behavior of the whales.” (more…)

‘Hot-Bunking’ Bacterium Recycles Iron to Boost Ocean Metabolism

By Guest PostJanuary 13, 20111 commentSciencebiochemical trick, biogeochemistry, carbohydrates, crocosphaera watsonii, cyanobacteria, ecosystem dynamics, essential nutrient, frederica valois, hot-bunking bacterium, marine bacterium, marine microbes, nitrogen, organic nitrogen, photosynthetic enzymes, whoi, woods hole oceanographic institution

In the vast ocean where an essential nutrient—iron—is scarce, a marine bacterium that launches the ocean food web survives by using a remarkable biochemical trick: It recycles iron.

By day, it uses iron in enzymes for photosynthesis to make carbohydrates; then by night, it appears to reuse the same iron in different enzymes to produce organic nitrogen for proteins. (more…)

WHOI Website Will Take Viewers Deep into the Gulf

By Guest PostDecember 6, 2010Environment, Science2010, alvin, atlantis, autonomous underwater vehicle, auv, charles fisher, deepwater horizon, dive and discover website, full impact, galapagos rift, gulf of mexico, hydrothermal vent, jason, macondo 252, mediterranean sea, oil spill, remotely operated vehicle, rms titanic, rov, sentry, tethered yearlong spectrometer, tethys, tim shank, whoi

It may take years before scientists determine the full impact of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. But, utilizing the human-occupied submersible Alvin and the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Sentry, researchers are about to investigate—and view first-hand—the possible effects of the spill at the bottom of the Gulf.

And, from Dec. 6-14, the mission will be relayed to the public as it happens on the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s (WHOI) Dive and Discover website (https://divediscover.whoi.edu). (more…)

Listen Up: Ocean Acidification Poses Little Threat to Whales’ Hearing

By Guest PostOctober 13, 2010Environmentabsorption, acidic, animals, atmospheric carbon dioxide, boric acid, CO2, decibel, hearing, ilya udovydchenkov, ivan lima, mathematical models, noise levels, ocean, ocean acidification, scott doney, seawater, sound propagation, sound waves, tim duda, whales, whoi, woods hole oceanographic institution

Contrary to some previous, highly publicized, reports, ocean acidification is not likely to worsen the hearing of whales and other animals, according to a Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientist who studies sound propagation in the ocean. (more…)

What Lives in the Sea? – First Census of Marine Life Reveals Thousands of New Species

By Guest PostOctober 6, 2010Nature, Scienceanimal plankton, autonomous underwater vehicles, auvs, celebes sea, census of marine life, chris german, cmarz, coml, decade of discovery, deep-sea imaging systems, deep-water chemosynthetic ecosystems, larry madin, lost city, marine geochemist, marine zooplankton, mid-atlantic ocean, NASA, peter wiebe, remotely operated vehicles, rovs, sonar, squidworm, tentacles, whoi, woods hole oceanographic institution

The Census of Marine Life, a ten-year project to catalog all life in the sea, discovered more than 6,000 new species during its “decade of discovery,” scientists reported as they unveiled its results at a finale event in London Oct. 4-6. The collaboration combined the efforts of scientists from research organizations in more than 80 nations, including the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). (more…)

WHOI Scientists Map and Confirm Origin of Large, Underwater Hydrocarbon Plume in Gulf

By Guest PostAugust 19, 2010Environment, Scienceautonomous underwater vehicleauv, bp deepwater horizon, cameron mcIntyre, christopher reddy, conductivity, ctd, dan torres, depth, endeavor, gulf of mexico, marine geochemist, natural oil seeps, oil spill, oxygen, petroleum hydrocarbon, plume of hydrocarbons, research vessel, richard camilli, scientists, sentry, sentry auv, susan k. avery, temperature, tethered yearlong spectrometer, tethys, underwater mass spectrometer, whoi, woods hole oceanographic institution

Scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have detected a plume of hydrocarbons that is at least 22 miles long and more than 3,000 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, a residue of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

(more…)

Sharks Sniff out Their Prey, One Nostril at a Time

By Guest PostJuly 19, 20103 commentsNatureboston university marine program, current biology, department of integrative biology, dogfish shark, gulf oil spill, jayne gardiner, jelle atema, mustelus canis, new england, nostril, plume, sharks, tom kleindinst, university of south florida, usf, whiff, whoi, woods hole oceanographic institution

It turns out the old saying is right — the nose really does know. And when it comes to sharks, the nostrils are particularly discriminating.

Combined with the ability to detect underwater vibrations, sharks are able to zero in on the location of their prey by smelling in stereo, according to a new study by researchers at the University of South Florida (USF) and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).