Our Woods Hole Science Aquarium has reopened! We have new exhibits and two new harbor seal residents: Kitt and Bubba. Be advised that exhibit days and times may vary based on Barnstable County CDC COVID community levels. For now, here are the days and times exhibits will be open:

• Outdoor seal enclosure: Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Science Aquarium: Tuesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Federal holidays: Closed

When the Barnstable County CDC COVID community level is “high” only the outdoor seal enclosure will be open. Be sure to check our website or follow us on Facebook or Twitter to get the latest on our hours of operation.

Last month, our scientists worked with the captain and crew of the F/V Darana R and scientists at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science to begin a restrictor rope study. The study was recommended by the Northeast Trawl Advisory Panel, a joint advisory panel composed of Mid-Atlantic and New England Fishery Management Council members, fishing industry, academic, and government and non-government fisheries experts. The panel identified the use of a restrictor rope as a possible way to standardize data across survey platforms for a variety of research endeavors, including those surveying in wind energy development areas. 

A new project aims to understand how Atlantic surfclams are affected by the changing chemistry of their habitat. We are monitoring environmental conditions in surfclam habitats at five sites and conducting transplant experiments at three sites on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. This is a partnership that includes our Milford Laboratory, the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, and several towns and shellfish commissions.

Atlantic sea scallops are one of the most valuable commercial fishery species in the nation. Every summer NOAA Fisheries and our partners each survey the population in assigned areas using similar methods and survey design. On June 13, the Science Center finished its 2022 survey, completing 98% of the planned HabCam survey transects and 87% of the planned dredge stations. During the survey, two scientists blogged about their work and survey life. Zach Fyke, biological science technician at our Woods Hole Lab, was on Leg 1 of the survey.  In his blog he talks about shoreside prep work, HabCam, sunsets, the lunar eclipse, and marine mammal and basking shark sightings. Christine Kircun, biological science technician at our Woods Hole Lab, was on Leg 3. In one blog, she talks about the night shift, amazing sunrises and tiny creatures. In another, she talks about the variety in scallop colors and patterns, and witnessing the second-largest single tow of small scallops in the history of the survey.

During the spring EcoMon Survey biologist Yuan Lui and survey chief scientist Jerry Prezioso blogged about their work and other survey activities. In Yuan’s blog, she explains how eDNA is collected, what it’s used for, and how long it can sometimes take to process eDNA samples. In Jerry’s first blog, he talks about students collecting samples for their research, marine phytoplankton imaging, sampling tiny sea snails called pteropods, and more. In his second blog, he talks about a graduate student’s deployment of a solar-powered drifter buoy, dodging wicked nasty storms, and survey plankton catches. In his last blog, he got a little reflective. Surveys have a lot of moving parts that need to fit together—and work together—to function effortlessly. Read his blog to find out what elements of this particular survey made it a real success. 

NOAA Corps officer Lt. Jr. Grade Alexander Creed is the new commanding officer of the R/V Gloria Michelle. A change of command ceremony was held in Woods Hole, Massachusetts in June. He relieved Lt. Cmdr. Benjamin VanDine who had been the officer in charge on the vessel for the past 4 years. We thank Ben for his service and wish him fair winds and following seas as he serves as the executive officer of the Surface and Upper Air Division in the Office of Observations at NOAA’s National Weather Service in Silver Spring, Maryland.

In early June, scientists and staff from our Milford Laboratory joined members of Audubon Connecticut to plant 1,500 saltmarsh bulrush plants at Great Meadows Marsh in Stratford, Connecticut. The Great Meadows Marsh Project is part of a nearly 40 acre restoration project led by NOAA, Audubon Connecticut, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the State of Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. The goal of this restoration effort is to help mitigate the impacts of sea level rise and improve habitat for birds and other wildlife. So far, 130,000 out of 165,000 plants have been planted for this project.

On July 5, NPR’s Marketplace podcast featured Milford Laboratory research chemist Shannon Meseck and others. They talked about climate change and ocean acidification and how these conditions affect the shellfish industry. Forward to minute 21 to listen to the segment.

We’re excited to have staff returning in greater numbers to our offices and labs! The pandemic continues to impact our country and that impact differs from location to location. We have facilities in Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Jersey and we currently have different CDC COVID Community Levels across our facilities. This means we have more or less staff working from our facilities or working from home depending on our current level. The pandemic has taught us to be adaptable and flexible, and that our staff can move relatively seamlessly among work environments. We also adapted our field work so that important data collection could continue during pandemic. One very exciting change is that our Woods Hole Science Aquarium has reopened! We’re excited to again welcome visitors from near and far. We are also very excited to share that our new harbor seals, Kitt and Bubba, have already won the hearts of our staff and visitors! Be sure to check our website or follow us on Facebook or Twitter to get the latest on our hours of operation.