On May 2, 2013, NOAA’s North Atlantic Regional Collaboration Team convened a workshop at the Cooperative Institute for the North Atlantic Region in Woods Hole, MA to explore regional capabilities and needs for ecological forecasting. Long-term science support from NOS’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science has led to a Harmful Algal Bloom forecast currently [...]
An NCCOS-funded research team led by Dr. Donald Anderson, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), has deployed an autonomous ocean sensor, called the Environmental Sample Processor (ESP) in the Atlantic Ocean off Portsmouth, New Hampshire for monitoring and prediction of New England Red Tides. A key project goal this year is to maintain ESP coverage in [...]
The 2013 spring and summer red tide reason in New England is expected to be “moderate” according to NCCOS’s partner, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), forecast last month. Ocean and weather data from the Gulf of Maine buoys play an important role in this forecasting effort. When developing this new red tide forecast system, scientists depended on historical [...]
New England should see a “moderate” red tide this spring and summer, according a report released this week by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Some shellfish harvesting beds might have to be closed in order to prevent people from eating contaminated food and getting sick. Red tide is [...]
Coastal areas around New England should prepare for a “moderate” red tide this spring and summer, according to scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. This seasonal forecast is based on samples of algal cysts taken from the ocean floor last year as indicators of this year’s bloom severity. For the first time, the team also used [...]
Something good is happening at Georges Bank, a large area off the coast of Massachusetts that separates the Gulf of Maine from the Atlantic Ocean: After 22 years, some 6,000 square miles of the sea floor recently reopened for surf clam and ocean quahog fishing. Together, the two bivalve species comprise a multimillion-dollar fishery along [...]
NOAA Fisheries now allows clam harvests in an area of Georges Bank off limits for the last 22 years to protect people from getting ill from algae toxins. Their decision centers on a two-part testing protocol that commercial fishermen and labs will use before bringing a catch to market. Once the haul arrives at the dock, [...]
It’s been almost a year since 150 young harbor seals died unexpectedly and washed up beaches in New Hampshire, southern Maine and northern Massachusetts. The New England Aquarium has taken this sad anniversary as an opportunity to share information with Seacoast communities about the cause of the deaths, ongoing monitoring efforts and to notify towns [...]