[SEMCO] WHOI Science Made Public July 2011

[Kathy Patterson]

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Science Made Public
All talks held at the WHOI Ocean Science Exhibit Center
15 School Street, Woods Hole

Link: https://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=69956

July 5 - The Search for and Discovery of Air France Flight 447
*Dave Gallo, WHOI Director of Special Projects*
On April 4, a team led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution 
(WHOI) located the wreckage of Air France Flight 447 in the Atlantic 
Ocean off Brazil’s northeastern coast in nearly 2.5 miles of water. 
Learn how the search team scoured some of the most rugged seafloor 
terrain using specialized vehicles to find the wreck, whose location 
remained a mystery for nearly two years. The crew’s success enabled the 
recovery of the flight data recorders— crucial for providing answers to 
the victims’s families and the airline industry about why the plane went 
down.


July 12 - Where the Rivers Meet the Oceans
*Bernhard Peucker-Ehrenbrink, Marine Geochemist*
River water accounts for only a tiny fraction of water on Earth, and it 
would take about three thousand years of river flow to fill the ocean 
basins. Yet despite this seemingly insignificant contribution, rivers 
supply the coastal oceans with nutrients that are essential to marine 
life, deliver sediments that sustain beaches, provide pathways for 
shipping, and freshwater for agriculture, industry and human 
consumption. Learn how the /Global Rivers Project/, a collaborative 
research effort by WHOI, the Woods Hole Research Center and 
international partners, is helping researchers better understand how 
rivers and their drainage basins are changing with the climate, and 
their impact on the coastal ocean.


July 19 - Right Whale Ecology and Conservation
*Mark Baumgartner, Marine Biologist*
With a population of approximately 450, the North Atlantic Right Whale, 
an inhabitant of our local New England waters, is seriously endangered. 
Its unique feeding behavior makes it vulnerable to two significant 
causes of mortality: fishing gear entanglements and ship strikes. Learn 
what we know about right whale feeding behavior and how recent research 
has improved conservation efforts.


July 26 - Imaging the Seafloor with Robotic Vehicles
*Hanu Singh, Oceanographic Engineer*
Marine robots are now becoming ubiquitous in oceanographic applications. 
Learn how underwater robots and imaging systems are changing the way we 
approach socially and economically relevant research arenas as diverse 
as fisheries, coral reef ecology, marine archaeology, and under-ice 
ecosystems.