As temperatures warm and water cycle patterns change, nearly every living thing on the planet is on the move. Off the U.S. East Coast between New Jersey and Maine, trawl surveys started by the National Marine Fisheries Service in the early 1960s provide one of the richest, longest-term datasets of environmental conditions and marine species
Oceans whisper in weathermen’s ears
The ocean provides not just food and inspiration, but real information that helps us get through our daily routines. For example, much of the weather we experience on a daily basis is driven by the ocean. In the Gulf of Maine region, oceanographers, meteorologists, and hydrographers are working with universities and other partners to feed
Those little river fish may bring big ocean fixes
Will the fish come back? Will the fish make it to their spawning grounds? These are the questions on the minds of fisheries biologists and river advocates this time of year, as they pay close attention to dam removals and other restoration efforts on streams and rivers. Many of these restoration projects began decades ago
A new way to look at mercury could make seafood healthier
Mercury is associated with fish because eating fish is the primary way that people, at least most Americans, are exposed to this toxic but natural element. And most of the fish we eat is marine fish—seafood. So it might seem surprising that the majority of scientific research on mercury takes place not in the marine
Science Potpourri for the Holidays 2012
New Understanding of Lobster Shell Disease The conversations on the dock and in the papers this summer about lobster focused on the quantity of softshell lobsters that arrived along the entire coast virtually simultaneously in July, and the resulting drop in price that led to tie-ups and concerns about fishermen’s ability to turn a
Slow but Steady Success for Sea Mammals
Gulf of Maine marine mammal populations have fluctuated wildly in the centuries since European explorers first reported seas teaming with cod and seals in their logbooks. Today, populations of many whales, porpoises, dolphins and seals that inhabit the Gulf are steady or increasing, due in large part to protections afforded under the 1972 Marine Mammal
An Eye on the Sea from Above
In August 2009, an Atlantic puffin left Seal Island National Wildlife Refugeand flew northeast, through the outer Gulf of Maine and along the continental shelf of Nova Scotia, eventually reaching the Labrador Sea. Then, at the end of January, the puffin flew south, almost as far Bermuda. In May, he returned to Seal Island for
The Oyster Connection
Say the word “oyster” and most people will think of the Chesapeake Bay or Louisiana. But Maine has oysters, too, and the expertise that has developed over the last 40 years of Maine’s evolving oyster industry is now in demand in more traditional oyster regions. American or eastern oysters grow in estuaries from Canada to
Saving Fuel Doesn’t Have to be a Drag
Serendipity is a common theme in science. Accidents and mistakes lead to fortuitous discovery; questions yield unexpected answers. For Steve Eayrs, a fish behavior and gear technology researcher at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, surprise came about when a study about fishing gear selectivity found new ways for fishermen to save fuel and money,
Science Potpourri for the Holidays
We started Fathoming in an attempt to go deeper into the science behind the news about our coast and the Gulf of Maine. Over the past two years, we have written about everything from offshore wind’s impacts on marine fauna to ocean acidification, oyster disease, whales and the persistent abundance of lobsters. We’ve talked with