[SEMCO] Oceans Alive Lecture Series Begins April 15

Wed Apr 9 09:47:01 EDT 2008

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Contact:                                                               

   For Immediate Release
Jeffrey Brodeur                                                         

April 9, 2008

(508) 289-2665

jbrodeur at whoi.edu

                Woods Hole Sea Grant "Oceans Alive" Program Begins April 15

                                  Initial Lecture in 2008 Series
        Addresses Buoy Network Aimed at Protecting Right Whales

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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."

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.

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.

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?

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.

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

For more information, contact the Woods Hole Sea Grant Program, 
508-289-2398 or seagrant at whoi.edu.

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