Last month, members of our North Atlantic Right Whale team had a dazzling array of whale sightings—a whopping 161 whales! They saw the whales—seven different species—south of Martha’s Vineyard and southeast of Nantucket. Highlights included 93 sei whales—one of the highest concentrations of sei whales they’d ever seen during a single survey flight! Another highlight was two killer whales, a rare sight for this survey. More incredible—one of the killer whales had a tuna in its mouth! They also saw 36 humpback whales and 21 fin whales, as well as minke, sperm, and North Atlantic right whales. The sightings happened on May 25. You can check out where they spotted the whales on WhaleMap.

NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service cut the ribbon on a new, state-of-the-art Northeast Oyster Breeding Center on June 24, 2024, at our lab in Milford, Connecticut. The center is an investment that will bolster shellfish farming in the Northeast. Scientists will use advanced selective breeding methods to develop better-performing lines of Eastern oysters to boost production. They aim to breed disease-resistant oysters that are resilient in the face of current and changing environmental conditions in the Northeast’s diverse oyster growing areas.

A newly-published paper provides an initial assessment and description of how offshore wind energy development affects fisheries-independent surveys in the United States and Europe, based on surveys of experts and inventories of 75 existing fisheries-independent surveys. Findings indicate that the majority of such surveys will be disrupted, posing challenges to fishery and protected species resource monitoring and stock assessments. NOAA Fisheries and the Bureau of Energy Management have released a federal survey mitigation implementation strategy for the Northeast, and established a team focused on implementing the strategy. Our draft mitigation plans for 19 surveys underwent peer review in May 2024. A final mitigation plan is expected later this year.

Summer is heating up attendance at the Woods Hole Science Aquarium. We closed out the school year by hosting the entire 3rd and 6th grades from the Town of Falmouth, Massachusetts public schools during the first two weeks of June. We are now on our summer operating schedule, open Tuesday through Saturday, 11:00 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed Mondays and federal holidays. More than 80 percent of our non-school group visitors come to the aquarium between June 1 and Labor Day. Check out our latest Instagram feature on aquarium creatures—amorous two-spot cardinalfish do a tender tango.

“Current Conditions” is a biannual report on ecosystem and fisheries data for the Northeast U.S. continental shelf ecosystem. The report includes measurements of temperature and salinity, indicators of seasonal warming and cooling patterns. We derive indicators describing phytoplankton distribution and blooms from satellite remote sensing data. Northeast Fisheries Science Center bottom trawl surveys provide upper trophic level indicators of fish and macroinvertebrate habitat and distribution dynamics. 

Survey scientists see all kinds of fascinating things while working at sea. During the spring 2024 Bottom Longline Survey in the Gulf of Maine, scientists from our science center captured their work and some of the incredible sights and scenes in photos. Stay tuned—more photos to be added soon! Our Gulf of Maine Bottom Longline Survey collects data on species that prefer rocky habitats—a habitat not efficiently sampled with trawl gear used in bottom trawl surveys.

Our James J. Howard Marine Sciences Laboratory at Sandy Hook, New Jersey, opened its doors to the public as part of Ocean Fun Days, an annual ocean-focused outreach event. We welcomed at least 1,000 visitors. Visitors watched two remotely operated vehicles navigate the 32K gallon research aquarium, learned about sight and hearing in fish and how ocean acidification affects marine animals, and saw a demonstration of how mangrove ecosystems store blue carbon. Our scientists look forward to sharing their research with the public again during next year's Ocean Fun Days.

Save the date! The 18th Annual Flatfish Biology Conference will be held on November 13–14, at the Water's Edge Resort and Spa in Westbrook, Connecticut. This conference gives scientists, researchers, and students the opportunity to present their flatfish research findings, share knowledge, and more. Important deadlines:

• July 12: Oral presentation and poster titles
• September 20: Abstracts
• October 12: Special hotel rate

Last month, biologists from our Maine Field Station, including science center and regional office staff and their partners, taught students from several Maine school districts about alewives and other sea-run fish at the Maine Forest and Logging Museum. Students saw a fishway passage in Blackman’s Stream fishway in action! Our staff and partners designed and built the 17-step, rock-and-pool fishway to help sea-run fish migrate between freshwater and the sea—essential to their life cycle. Students enjoyed seeing alewives up close and learned about their importance to freshwater and marine ecosystems. They played games, saw the museum’s mill, and more! NOAA Fisheries has supported this special annual event for years. This year volunteers from the University of Maine Sea Grant, Atlantic Salmon Federation, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service joined us for the event.

Last month, 225 Falmouth 7th graders ventured to tiny Woods Hole village for an amazing day of ocean science. Students dissected and aged fish at our Woods Hole Lab, visited our science aquarium, and toured the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s dock and R/V Tioga. We had a blast and think they did too! Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Woods Hole Sea Grant joined us in sponsoring this event.

New blog from research fish biologist Brigid McKenna dives into last month’s exciting multi-day aerial whale survey of Hudson Canyon where the survey team spotted 45 North Atlantic right whales. That’s more than 12% of the population! What prompted the team to survey this area, why they think the whales were there, and more in Brigid’s blog!

This month we celebrated the ribbon cutting for the Northeast Oyster Breeding Center at our Milford Laboratory in Connecticut. The breeding center is a joint effort between NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service. Here we will apply cutting-edge science to selectively breed Eastern oysters that will perform well in the Northeast’s diverse and changing environmental conditions. This initiative marks an important investment in the future of aquaculture in the Northeast and has strong support from the regional shellfish aquaculture industry. It is fitting that the breeding center is located at the Milford Laboratory, where scientists first developed critical oyster culturing methods nearly 70 years ago. Over the past few years the laboratory built a new state-of-the-art hatchery, including a new high-density, flow-through larval system. In April, NOAA and USDA spawned the first generation of oysters. Soon those juvenile oysters or “spat” will be transferred to shellfish grower partners who will continue tracking their growth. This ribbon-cutting was made possible by many people who are passionate about growing oysters, working for many different organizations, over a number of years. Thank you all for your dedication.