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.
By equipping underwater gliders with acoustic sensors and computer software, Oregon State oceanographers are teaching the autonomous vehicles to identify biological hot spots in the oceans.
Watch spinner dolphins corral their quarry and work together to feed in these animations.
Not only is Kelly Benoit-Bird unbounded by species classifications, she also is unrestrained by the dimensions of time and space.
For the past decade, Oregon State University has boasted an oceanography program ranked among the top five in the nation, and its broad spectrum of marine and coastal research has an international reputation that few institutions can match.