The implications for the endangered blue whale (and, by extension, other marine predators) are clear. If they’re disturbed during intense, deep-water feeding, it could have consequences for their fitness, overall health and reproductive viability over time.
The 2010 Academy Award-winning movie The Cove — which documented dolphin slaughter in Japan — included scenes of OSU researcher Scott Baker conducting DNA analysis covertly in his hotel room.
Floating in the seas are zillions of microscopic creatures called “protists,” a catchall term for a group of algae-eating organisms that are neither animal, plant or fungus. As ubiquitous as they are, scientists don’t yet fully grasp their role in the marine carbon cycle, according to OSU researcher Stephen Giovannoni.
In May, the Endurance team recovered the rest of the components of the broken mooring. Over the summer, they will examine the evidence to pinpoint the cause of the failure. The buoy will be reconditioned and sent back to its post. It’s all part of the dance that oceanographers do to unlock the secrets of the sea.
Oregon State professor Bruce Menge and graduate student Elizabeth Cerny-Chipman investigate an epidemic of sea star wasting disease at Seal Rock.
OSU researcher Sally Hacker warns that climate-related changes to ocean upwelling “could have potentially profound effects on the future production” of Oregon’s estuaries.