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Mapping Katama Bay’s Restless Sands

Boaters on Martha’s Vineyard know navigational maps of Katama Bay become obsolete very quickly. Why do the sands at the bottom of the Bay shift so much and so often? Katama Bay has two inlets. Water pours in from Vineyard Sound through Edgartown Channel, and from the Atlantic Ocean through Katama Inlet. The size and…

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Program Guides

Program Guides The WHOI Sea Grant Program supports research, education, and extension projects that encourage environmental stewardship, long-term economic development, and responsible use of the nation’s coastal and ocean resources. It is part of the National Sea Grant College Program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a network of 33 individual programs located…

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Hydrodynamical Modeling of a Multiple-inlet Estuary/Barrier System: Insight into Tidal Inlet Formation and Stability

Hydrodynamical Modeling of a Multiple-inlet Estuary/Barrier System: Insight into Tidal Inlet Formation and Stability Friedrichs, C.T., D.G. Aubrey, G.S. Giese, and P.E. Speer In: Aubrey, D.G. and G.S. Giese (eds.), Formation and Evolution of Multiple Tidal Inlets, Coastal and Estuarine Studies, American Geophysical Union, Washington, D.C., Vol. 44, pp. 95-112, 1993 WHOI-R-93-010

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The Little Fish with a Big Impact

In the Gulf of Maine, there’s a little eel-like fish not much bigger than a large pencil, that buries itself in the sand in the summer and swims up and down in the water column in the spring and fall. It’s called a sand lance and it’s incredibly important to the ecosystem of the Gulf of Maine. If you like whale watching, this little fish is the biggest reason you might or might not see a whale:

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2002-2004 Projects

Developmental Effects of Contaminants on Salinity Preference and Seawater Survival for Atlantic Salmon: Integrating Physiology and Behavior Stephen D. McCormick, Darren T. Lerner, and Emily Monosson, University of Massachusetts, Amherst Over the last 20 years populations of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in northern New England have decreased ten-fold, resulting in their recent listing as an…

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Aquaculturists

Aquaculturists Our region is home more than 300 shellfish farming operations on over 1,000 acres. Woods Hole Sea Grant extension agents meet regularly with aquaculturists and provide them with technical assistance based on research and our knowledge of local habitats and conditions. WHSG also offers professional development opportunities to help shellfish farmers improve their operations.…

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How Do Sharks Respond to Internal Waves in the Ocean?

A new study provides insight into the behavior of small sharks when encountering a common ocean phenomenon known as internal waves. These waves play powerful and still unknown roles in the exchange of heat, energy, water properties and nutrients throughout the ocean, and can change the vertical distribution …

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Technology Enables Better HAB Monitoring and Mapping

Technology Enables Better HAB Monitoring and Mapping The project’s sampling plan for the Nauset area of Cape Cod. Sept. 2018 — Nauset Marsh in Eastham, Mass. on Cape Cod serves as a “natural laboratory” for researchers working to better understand harmful algal blooms (HABs) or red tide. HABs in Nauset are caused by the phytoplankton…

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Outreach: Reporting from the Heart of the Storm

The winter storms of 2018 are experiences most of New Englanders would like to forget. However, the pounding the region took through the month of March left an indelible mark on many north and east facing towns and beaches, destroying homes, buildings, and other structures, and eroding swaths of shoreline. This week the White House…

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2006-2008 Projects

Seasonal Changes in Groundwater Flow Into the Coastal Ocean Fresh water from water tables under the land flows out into the coastal ocean from beneath the seabed, a flow known as submarine groundwater discharge (SGD). Researchers have found that such flow can have a very large impact on estuaries. Groundwater carries land-generated nitrogen compounds, plus…

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