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<h3>__________________________________News
Release________________________________________
</h3>
<address>Contact:
For Immediate Release<br>
Jeffrey Brodeur
April 9, 2008<br>
</address>
<address>(508) 289-2665</address>
<address>jbrodeur@whoi.edu</address>
<br>
<h2><font color="#000099"> Woods Hole Sea Grant “Oceans
Alive” Program Begins April 15</font></h2>
<h4><font color="#000099"> Initial Lecture in
2008 Series Addresses Buoy Network Aimed at Protecting Right
Whales</font></h4>
<h3> </h3>
John Kemp, who led a team of engineers in developing and deploying a
buoy system off Cape Cod aimed at decreasing the risk to Northern
Atlantic right whales from ship strikes, kicks off the 2008 Woods Hole
Sea Grant “Oceans Alive” series on April 15 with a lecture about the
system.<br>
<br>
Kemp’s talk begins at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of Redfield Lab in Woods
Hole. Admission is free and open to the public and light refreshments
will be served. <br>
<br>
Kemp, a senior engineering assistant with the Mooring Operations Group
at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, will discuss the passive
acoustic mooring-based detection system located along the shipping
lanes heading into Boston.<br>
<br>
Currently comprised of 10 buoys along the 55-mile Traffic Separation
Scheme, each monitoring device can pick up the noise of marine mammals
from five miles away, giving a wide coverage area, Kemp says.<br>
<br>
The system then sends the detection of those sounds to the NOAA Right
Whale Sighting Advisory System and the information, along with aerial
sighting surveys, is posted. Ships in the area, in turn, are notified
and required to slow their speed slightly for 24 hours and post a
lookout.<br>
<br>
“It’s crucial that (humans) do what we can to limit the danger to these
endangered creatures,” Kemp says. “Anyone who has ever seen a whale in
its natural environment can understand why we are so committed to this
project.”<br>
<br>
Only about 350-400 right whales remain, researchers say, and all are
found on the East Coast of North America. They are between 40-70 feet
in length and weigh up to 70 tons. Once boasting life expectancies of
50-70 years, calves born today can expect to live just 15 years because
of ship strikes and entanglements, according to the Right Whale
Listening Network, of which WHOI is a member. <br>
<br>
Woods Hole Sea Grant’s “Oceans Alive” lecture series for 2008 continues
its discussion on marine mammals on April 22, also at 7 p.m., when
Regina Campbell-Malone speaks about the types of injuries right whales
suffer when they do collide with ships. <br>
<br>
Campbell-Malone, a postdoctoral investigator in WHOI’s Biology
department and at Brown University, will look at right whale collisions
from a biomechanical perspective. How much force is needed to cause one
of the most common injuries – jawbone fractures? And does the discovery
that a third of all blunt collision cases involve those fractures make
the jawbone the “weakest link” of the species or its Achilles’ Jaw?<br>
<br>
The “Oceans Alive” series concludes on Tuesday, April 29, at a special
time, 4 p.m., with “Young Scientists Present: Winning Science Fair
Projects,” which showcases the projects and talents of the winners of
local high school science fairs, students from Falmouth Academy and
Falmouth High School. Families and students are especially encouraged
to attend.<br>
<br>
Parking for evening lectures is available in the lot opposite the
auditorium on Water Street, and parking for the April 29 afternoon
lecture is available in on-street, metered spaces<br>
<br>
For more information, contact the Woods Hole Sea Grant Program,
508-289-2398 or <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="mailto:seagrant@whoi.edu">seagrant@whoi.edu</a>.<br>
<br>
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