In 1810, in the Greenland Sea, William Scoresby Jr., the captain of Resolute, who was 21 years old, used an oceanographic instrument made from a ten-gallon wooden cask. It was built following Lord Joseph Banks’s instructions. The cask was made of two-inch-thick fir planks, “as being a bad conductor of heat.” At each end of…
This summer, a couple of female right whales, Curlew and Koala, are serenely grazing on zooplankton in the ocean waters north of Prince Edward Island, Canada, the land of Anne of Green Gables. The elusive cow whale duo made history, turning south from the right whale birthing grounds off Georgia to travel through the Florida…
Without mangroves, the oceans would be significantly less biodiverse. These unique forests provide a nursery for developing marine life and food for numerous species. However, the critical connection between mangroves and marine life goes deeper than their iconic root structure. Every part of the mangrove benefits the ecosystem, from its nutrient-dense leaves to shore-stabilizing roots.…
Attleboro, a city of 46,773 in Southeastern Massachusetts, once known as “The Jewelry Capital of the World,” plans to create a Miyawaki pocket forest in O’Connell Field at Capron Park near the High School. Ocean River Institute summer interns, concerned about the plight of right whales suffering from stormwater pollution and water warmed by urban…
From Climate Misconceptions to Sustainable Solutions A new scientific study indicates that changing cloud cover may be behind most of the abrupt global warming observed in 2023, with the rise in carbon dioxide contributing to only 10% of the warming. Climate scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies found that the world’s cloud cover…
ATTLEBORO — An environmental group is hoping the city will help its efforts to save the right whales — by planting a forest or two. The Ocean River Institute recently visited Attleboro because, when contacting eight cities to discuss planting what are called Miyawaki forests, Attleboro was the most responsive. They found two potential sites…
In Shetland’s Lerwick Harbor, the grey stone buildings stand close together. Rows of houses line streets that march downhill in curving lines to meet the sea. They buttress against the cold winds that race across the northernmost fetch of the North Sea. On the first Sunday of October, Saint Columba’s Church of Scotland fills with…
My first experience with a right whale was as a college student alone on the deck of a twenty-seven-foot sailboat. Suddenly, beside me was what looked like a sandbar the length of the boat. Yet, it was alive and moving forward. Those below decks thought I was having an epileptic attack. I had never imagined…
