Last fall, a team of ocean researchers sent an uncrewed, submarine-shaped vehicle packed with scientific electronics into offshore wind farm areas off southern New England. The goal: test how well the vehicle could operate and gather data in the area. It could be an important step toward a safe, efficient solution for monitoring marine life and habitats in places where our larger research vessels and aircraft can’t operate.

Shellfish growers and managers wanted a simple way to calculate the environmental benefits of shellfish farms. We listened. Scientists at our Milford lab and National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science worked with partners from Maine to North Carolina to create an easy tool to calculate how much nitrogen farmed Eastern oysters remove from the water. Nitrogen removal is one of the ecosystem services—environmental benefits—oysters provide. The new calculator provides information that supports consideration of these benefits in the shellfish aquaculture permitting and review process.

Endangered leatherback sea turtles migrate between the warmer waters of the Southeast where they nest and the cooler, more prey-rich waters in New England and Nova Scotia, Canada, where they feed. However, scientists weren’t sure what they were up to along the way. NOAA Fisheries researchers from the Northeast and Southeast Fisheries Science Centers worked with partners to satellite tag and track 52 leatherback sea turtles between 2017 and 2022. They discovered that the turtles stop for snacks! They use both the Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic Bights as foraging grounds while migrating along the continental shelf. This discovery could help conserve and recover leatherback turtles and their habitats.

Scientists from our science center and ten other U.S. institutions collaborated to update the model used to map the population density of endangered North Atlantic right whales. Their goal: To predict and help avoid harmful interactions between these whales and human activities. Originally developed in 2016, the model has been updated periodically. This newest version incorporates more data than ever and has reduced uncertainty. It’s the first time that acoustic detections of right whales have been considered.

In February, our Cooperative Research Branch hosted more than 150 fishermen and scientists at the 2024 Northeast Cooperative Research Summit in Cape May, New Jersey. This annual event provided an opportunity for those gathered to focus on sharing ongoing cooperative research, discussing how cooperative research can address the challenges facing the fishing and science communities, and identifying near-term priorities. One attendee declared the summit “the best interaction among scientists, managers, and industry in 20-plus years.” A report on the summit will be available this summer. 

Save the date! Come get your science on Saturday, August 10, at the Woods Hole Science Stroll! Join our Woods Hole Lab and other Woods Hole science institutions and organizations as we turn Woods Hole into one big outdoor science open house. Enjoy all kinds of interactive science demos and exhibits, arts and crafts, fun hands-on activities, and more! This event runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It’s fun, free and family friendly! Parking is limited so be sure to plan ahead. See you there! 

Science center research fishery biologist Katey Marancik participated in the winter 2024 Ecosystem Monitoring Survey. During the survey, she wrote a few blogs. In her third blog, she talks about seeing puffins, loons, scoters, and other seabirds she normally doesn’t see during the spring or fall surveys. In her fourth and final blog, she talks about how the data she and others collected during the winter survey are an important starting point for understanding the ocean’s clock for the rest of the year. 

While on Leg 1 of the spring 2024 Bottom Trawl Survey, Population and Ecosystems Monitoring and Analysis Division chief Kathryn Ford took a moment to write a blog. In it, she explains some of the survey activities and operations—what the survey does, where it’s conducted, how each tow is monitored and the catch processed, how it’s staffed, and what culinary delights fuel the scientific team and crew. Mmm-mmm… Burgers and lasagna—the breakfast of survey champions! 

Rutgers University post-doc Laura Steeves is working in collaboration with scientists at our Milford Lab to better understand how climate change will affect surfclams. Her research interest in climate change and how it may impact fishing and aquaculture stems from growing up in a coastal community and enjoying seafood. Before Rutgers, she studied the effects of climate change on mussels, oysters, and scallops and how their feeding rates varied under different conditions in Nova Scotia. Now, she’s looking at studying these same research questions but with surfclams. To do that, she’s using our Milford Lab’s mobile ocean acidification system and expertise. Read all about it in her blog!

Get some Earth Week inspiration for your inbox by signing up for NOAA Fisheries' bimonthly climate change newsletter. The Shift is a short roundup of NOAA Fisheries web stories, videos, and podcast episodes highlighting our work to research and respond to climate impacts on our marine resources. The next edition will go out May 14.

Director's Message

There is a new ocean use on the horizon—marine carbon dioxide removal. Computer models show that to meet target climate reductions, we need to switch to renewable energy AND remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. One way to do that is to enable the ocean to absorb more carbon dioxide. Removing carbon dioxide from the surface ocean or binding it up in minerals, frees up “space” for more atmospheric carbon dioxide to be absorbed. This may slow or even reverse human-caused climate change. 

Marine carbon dioxide removal encompasses a number of approaches. One way is to increase the ocean’s alkalinity. Another is to sink phytoplankton and/or macroalgae into the deep sea. NOAA has produced its own strategy (pdf, 84 pages) to assess how we might engage with the research needed to understand the approaches. There are several small-scale marine carbon dioxide removal research projects occurring or planned in our region. The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is leading one: the  LOC-NESS Project. Others are being led by the Ocean Visions Network. 

Marine carbon dioxide removal may seem like a strange topic for our eNewsletter, but think about the potential ecosystem-level effects from marine carbon dioxide removal methods. Right now, we don’t know the potential effects on fisheries and protected species, particularly at the level needed to see an actual difference in atmospheric carbon dioxide. To synthesize what we know about marine carbon dioxide removal and interactions with fisheries, our science center is working with the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea to convene a workshop in October 2024. We continue to track the issue and look for opportunities to conduct and promote science to better understand the potential effects of marine carbon dioxide removals on our region.