Seal Island's Live Seal Cam

Great news! It is gray seal (Halichoerus grypus) pupping season, and Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge is using a HD camera to give scientists insight into this event. It isn't easy to observe events that happen during Maine's worst weather conditions, and this camera means that scientists can observe seals during the whole pupping season from the comfort of their computer screen and without disturbing these 300-pound pinnipeds. Seal Island has the second largest gray seal colony in the United States, and is not too far from Hurricane Island (although Google Maps wouldn't give me directions...I suppose they are still working on their inter-island transit time). You can read more about gray seals here. Speaking of seals, if you want to come out to Hurricane Island for our Maine SEAL program, I promise you will get to see seals lounging on the ledges to the East of Hurricane Island!

This is a still still taken on January 15. Click the image to visit the video feed which broadcasts live starting at 10am every day.

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New Year, New Calendar

Photo of Lisa Goddard by Charlie Naebeck.

If you are in the market for a super cool science calendar, check out the 2014 Climate Models Calendar, which claims to be "the only calendar on Earth that shares the planet's hottest climate science and the people behind it."

Each month, the calendar features one of Columbia’s renowned climate scientists and includes information about their interests, work, and their favorite dataset, chart or climate phenomenon. The calendar also includes dates of weather and climate events that live in infamy, dates of key scientific meetings…in other words, everything you need to have an awesome year of science!

One of the portraits in the calendar features scientist Lisa Goddard, Director of the International Research Institute for Climate and Society. Lisa's work focuses on improving the reliability and use of climate models, especially those that indicate conditions over the next few decades in different parts of the world.

Scallops certified "sustainable" by the Marine Stewardship Council

Maine's Scallop season opened December 2, 2013, and shortly after the first scallops appeared on dinner plates the fishery was certified "sustainable" in accordance with the Marine Stewardship Council's standards for sustainable, well-managed fisheries.  You can read more about this decision here. 

This certification was granted despite an objection filed by Togue Brawn of Maine Dayboat Scallops, Inc., with the support of the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association. The objection is in response to a management loophole that exempts the Northern Gulf of Maine management area from regulations aimed at rebuilding and protecting the scallop resource. The objection argues that the management area has no real measures to prevent overfishing, which could make the "sustainable" designation for the whole fishery artificial and short-sighted.

The state's scallop fishery is managed by the Department of Marine Resources, which is a great source of information if you want to learn more about how the fishery works.

If you are interested in different fisheries that may or may not be "ocean-friendly" you can check out Seafood Watch, a program of the Monterey Bay Aquarium that makes purchasing recommendations for different species of fish and shellfish.

Do you think the scallop fishery is sustainable? Does the sustainability of a fishery affect your decision to consume different types of seafood? Post your comments!

No Shrimp Fishery this Year

You have probably heard by now that there is no shrimp fishery this 2013-2014 season. This did not come as too much of a surprise: there have been early closures and reduced allowable catch limits put on the shrimp fishery since 2010. In 2012 Maine shrimpers hauled in 255 metric tons (mt) of shrimp compared to landings between 2,200 mt  and 5,600 mt from 2005-2012.  1969 marked the peak of the fishery with nearly 11,000 mt of shrimp landed. (Table 1a, ASMFC report)

“Given the overwhelming evidence of recruitment failure and stock collapse, and continuing unfavorable environmental conditions, the Section felt it was necessary to close the 2014 fishery to protect the remaining spawning biomass and allow as much hatch to take place as possible,” stated Northern Shrimp Section Chair Terry Stockwell of Maine. “When environmental conditions are poor, the ability of the stock to withstand fishing pressure is reduced. With the stock at all time lows and only failed year classes to come, there is even greater loss of resilience for this stock.”
- From ASMFC Northern Shrimp Section Establishes Moratorium for 2014 Fishing Season

If you want to read the 86-page report compiled by the Atlantic State's Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC)--the regulatory body that jointly manages the Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts shrimp fishery--I would suggest a strong cup of coffee first (it is pretty technical). Alternatively, check out their Executive Summary on page 7. 

What does this mean for Maine shrimp fishermen? The fishery has historically supported between 150-250 trawlers and trappers (the two methods for catching shrimp), and in 2013 there were around 160 Maine shrimp fishery licenses (table 6, ASMFC report). Although nearly 84 percent of shrimpers in Maine are also lobstermen, shrimping can be a significant supplement to their income, with some fishermen making $2,000 a day shrimping. This is yet another lost fishing opportunity that makes fishermen even more reliant on the lobster fishery for all of their income. One of our science advisors, Robert Steneck, wrote a compelling article about this issue in 2011 (this is a must-read).

Check out this article in the Working Waterfront to learn more about the shrimp fishery and the link between decreases in the shrimp population and increased water temperatures. You can also read more about northern shrimp (Pandalus borealis), their life history, and the history of their management on the ASMFC website.

Have you been impacted by the closure of the shrimp fishery? What do you think about the ASMFC's descision to close the fishery? Post your thoughts in the comment section!

Cool ways to use your Smartphone for Science

Well, at long last you can use your smartphone as a microscope! Check out this $10 instructables hack. Out on Hurricane there are plenty of cool critters to see under a microscope with just a few plankton tows. We had fun with one of our most recent programs, the Eastern Maine Skippers, collecting zoo and phytoplankton from the waters just off Hurricane Island. Check out some of the critters we saw below:

But what else can you do with your phone? Try signing up for Marine Debris Tracker so you can record what you find on the coastline during your beach combing adventures! Or how about recording the cool intertidal invertebrates you find with Project Noah. There are tons of ways you can contribute to science while having fun doing it, so get to it!