Leading ocean scientists from the U.S. and around the world today urged President Obama to halt a planned oil and gas exploration program off the Atlantic coast involving millions of underwater sound blasts that would have “significant, long-lasting and widespread impacts on the reproduction and survival” of threatened whales and commercial fish populations. Read the full text of the letter here.

In a letter to the President, 75 scientists from institutions such as Cornell, Duke, the New England Aquarium, Stanford, and the University of North Carolina say that the seismic blasts, from high-volume airguns that fire every 10–12 seconds, are nearly as loud as conventional explosives and have “an enormous environmental footprint.”  Experts say airgun noise is loud enough to mask whale calls over thousands of miles.

North Atlantic right whale calve in the Southeastern US then migrate north to feed in the summer.

Because whales depend on sound waves to communicate, feed, mate and travel, the blasting can disrupt the reproduction and feeding of the great whale species “over vast ocean areas,” the letter says. “The impact of overwhelming seismic blasting on North Atlantic right whales is of particular concern,” stated Dr. Scott Kraus, Vice President of Research at Boston’s New England Aquarium. “There are only 500 of these critically endangered whales. Their winter calving waters and migration corridor abuts the entire proposed exploration area.  These sounds are likely to displace whales from critical habitats, disrupt mother and calf communication, and increases stress levels in whales, which can lead to chronic health problems for this species that is already highly vulnerable.”

North Atlantic right whales migrate up and down the East Coast

The blasts also “could have potentially massive impacts on fish populations,” according to the letter. In some countries seismic testing has driven away commercial species, resulting in huge drops in catch rates. Studies also show the airguns could kill fish eggs and larvae, interfere with breeding and make some species more vulnerable to predators.

The seismic blasts, used by oil companies to locate oil and gas deposits below the ocean floor, were authorized last year by the Department of the Interior and would result in more than 20 million seismic “shots” over a multi-year period. “The Interior Department itself has estimated that seismic exploration would disrupt vital marine mammal behavior more than 13 million times,” the letter says.

Nine applications for seismic blasting have already been filed, covering most of the Atlantic Ocean continental shelf from Delaware to Florida along with deeper waters further out to sea. The issue assumed new urgency earlier this year when the Obama administration announced plans to allow, for the first time in 30 years, offshore oil and gas drilling in the region.

The Interior Department has scheduled “open houses” next week in Annapolis, Md., and Charleston, S.C. to receive comments from the public; additional hearings will take place in Atlantic City, N.J., and Savannah, Ga., and on the Outer Banks of North Carolina later this month.

The Interior Department is still processing the seismic applications, but the scientists urge President Obama to step in now. “Opening the U.S. east coast to seismic air gun exploration poses an unacceptable risk of serious harm to marine life,” they write, asking him to reject Interior’s decision to allow the blasting.

Read the full text of the letter here.

Today 75 leading ocean scientists from the U.S. and around the world urged President Obama to halt a planned oil and gas exploration program off the Atlantic coast involving millions of underwater sound blasts. This is the full text of that letter with the complete list of signatures.

Dear Mr. President:
We, the undersigned, are marine scientists united in our concern over the introduction of seismic oil and gas exploration along the U.S. mid-Atlantic and south Atlantic coasts. This activity represents a significant threat to marine life throughout the region.

To identify subsea deposits, operators use arrays of high-volume airguns, which fire approximately every 10–12 seconds, often for weeks or months at a time, with sound almost as powerful as that produced by underwater chemical explosives. Already nine survey applications covering the entirety of the region several times over have been submitted within the past six months, including multiple duplicative efforts in the same areas. In all, the activities contemplated by the Interior Department would result in more than 20 million seismic shots.

Airgun surveys have an enormous environmental footprint. For blue and other endangered great whales, for example, such surveys have been shown to disrupt activities essential to foraging and reproduction over vast ocean areas. Additionally, surveys could increase the risk of calves being separated from their mothers, the effects of which can be lethal, and, over time, cause chronic behavioral and physiological stress, suppressing reproduction and increasing mortality and morbidity. The Interior Department itself has estimated that seismic exploration would disrupt vital marine mammal behavior more than 13 million times over the initial six-to-seven years, and there are good reasons to consider this number a significant underestimate.

The impacts of airguns extend beyond marine mammals to all marine life. Many other marine animals respond to sound, and their ability to hear other animals and acoustic cues in their environment are critical to survival. Seismic surveys have been shown to displace commercial species of fish, with the effect in some fisheries of dramatically depressing catch rates. Airguns can also cause mortality in fish eggs and larvae, induce hearing loss and physiological stress, interfere with adult breeding calls, and degrade anti-predator response: raising concerns about potentially massive impacts on fish populations. In some species of invertebrates, such as scallops, airgun shots and other low-frequency noises have been shown to interfere with larval or embryonic development. And threatened and endangered sea turtles, although almost completely unstudied for their vulnerability to noise impacts, have their most sensitive hearing in the same low frequencies in which most airgun energy is concentrated.

The Interior Department’s decision to authorize seismic surveys along the Atlantic coast is based on the premise that these activities would have only a negligible impact on marine species and populations. Our expert assessment is that the Department’s premise is not supported by the best available science. On the contrary, the magnitude of the proposed seismic activity is likely to have significant, long-lasting, and widespread impacts on the reproduction and survival of fish and marine mammal populations in the region, including the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, of which only 500 remain.

Opening the U.S. east coast to seismic airgun exploration poses an unacceptable risk of serious harm to marine life at the species and population levels, the full extent of which will not be understood until long after the harm occurs. Mitigating such impacts requires a much better understanding of cumulative effects, which have not properly been assessed, as well as strict, highly precautionary limits on the amounts of annual and concurrent survey activities, which have not been prescribed. To proceed otherwise is simply not sustainable. Accordingly, we respectfully urge you, Mr. President, to reject the Interior Department’s analysis and its decision to introduce seismic oil and gas surveys in the Atlantic.

Sincerely,

Christopher Clark, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist
Bioacoustics Research Program
Cornell University

Scott Kraus, Ph.D.
Vice President of Research
John H. Prescott Marine Laboratory
New England Aquarium

Doug Nowacek, Ph.D.
Repass-Rodgers Chair of Marine Conservation Technology
Nicholas School of the Environment & Pratt School of Engineering
Duke University

Andrew J. Read, Ph.D.
Stephen Toth Professor of Marine Biology
Division of Marine Science and Conservation
Nicholas School of the Environment
Duke University

Aaron Rice, Ph.D.
Science Director
Bioacoustics Research Program
Cornell University

Howard C. Rosenbaum, Ph.D.
Director, Ocean Giants Program
Global Conservation Programs
Wildlife Conservation Society

Natacha Aguilar, Ph.D.
Director of Cetacean and Bioacoustics Research
University of La Laguna
Canary Islands, Spain

Simon Allen
Research Fellow
Murdoch University Cetacean Research Unit

S. Elizabeth Alter, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Biology
York College, City University of New York

Ricardo Antunes, Ph.D.
Ocean Giants Program
Wildlife Conservation Society

Marta Azzolin, Ph.D.
Lecturer, Life Sciences and Systems, Biology Department
University of Torino

David Bain, Ph.D.
Marine Biologist
Washington

Robin Baird, Ph.D.
Research Biologist
Cascadia Research Collective

Kenneth C. Balcomb III
Executive Director and Principal Investigator
Center for Whale Research

Giovanni Bearzi, Ph.D.
Science Director, Dolphin Biology and Conservation
Faculty Member and Research Associate
Texas A&M University

Kerstin Bilgmann, Ph.D.
Research Scientist
Cetacean Ecology Behaviour and Evolution Lab
Flinders University, South Australia

Barbara A. Block, Ph.D.
Prothro Professor of Marine Sciences
Department of Biology
Stanford University

John Calambokidis
Senior Research Biologist and Co-Founder
Cascadia Research Collective

Merry Camhi, Ph.D.
Director
New York Seascape Wildlife Conservation Society

Diane Claridge, Ph.D
Executive Director
Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organisation

Annie B. Douglas
Research Biologist
Cascadia Research Collective

Sylvia Earle, Ph.D.
Founder and Chair
Mission Blue

Erin A. Falcone
Research Biologist
Cascadia Research Collective

Michael L. Fine, Ph.D.
Professor of Biology
Department of Biology
Virginia Commonwealth University

Sylvia Frey, Ph.D.
Director, Science & Education
OceanCare

Edmund Gerstein, Ph.D.
Director Marine Mammal Research
Charles E. Schmidt College of Science
Florida Atlantic University

Caroline Good, Ph.D.
Adjunct Research Professor
Nicholas School of the Environment
Duke University

Frances Gulland, Vet M.B., Ph.D.
Senior Scientist
The Marine Mammal Center

Denise Herzing, Ph.D.
Research Director, Wild Dolphin Project
Department of Biological Sciences
Florida Atlantic University

Holger Klinck, Ph.D.
Technology Director
Bioacoustics Research Program
Cornell University

Dipl. Biol. Sven Koschinski
Meereszoologie, Germany

Russell Leaper
Honorary Research Fellow
University of Aberdeen

Susan Lieberman, Ph.D.
Vice President, International Policy
Wildlife Conservation Society

Klaus Lucke, Ph.D.
Research Associate
Centre for Marine Science and Technology
Curtin University, Western Australia

Joseph J. Luczkovich, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Biology
Institute for Coastal Science and Policy
East Carolina University

William McClellan
NC State Stranding Coordinator
Large Whale Necropsy Team Leader
Department of Biology and Marine Biology
University of North Carolina, Wilmington

David McGuire, M.E.H.
Director, Shark Stewards

Sean McQuilken
Biologist and Endangered Species Observer

David K. Mellinger, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Senior Research
Cooperative Institute for Marine Resources Studies
Oregon State University

Olaf Meynecke, Ph.D.
Chief Scientist
Humpbacks & High-Rises

T. Aran Mooney, Ph.D.
Associate Scientist
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Michael Moore, Ph.D.
Director, Marine Mammal Center
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Cynthia F. Moss, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences
Johns Hopkins University

Wallace J. Nichols, Ph.D.
Marine Biologist

Sharon Nieukirk
Senior Faculty Research Assistant
Marine Bioacoustics
Oregon State University

Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara, Ph.D.
President
Tethys Research Institute

D. Ann Pabst, Ph.D.
Professor of Biology and Marine Biology
University of North Carolina, Wilmington

Susan E. Parks, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Biology
Syracuse University

Chris Parsons, Ph.D. FRGS FSB
Professor
Department of Environmental Science & Policy
George Mason University

Roger Payne, Ph.D.
Founder and President
Ocean Alliance

Marta Picciulin, Ph.D.
Marine Biologist

Wendy Dow Piniak, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies
Gettysburg College

Randy R. Reeves, Ph.D.
Chairman
IUCN/ SSC Cetacean Specialist Group
International Union for the Conservation of Nature

Luke Rendell, Ph.D.
Lecturer, Sea Mammal Research Unit
University of St. Andrews, Scotland

Denise Risch, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS)
Scottish Marine Institute

Dipl.-Biol. Fabian Ritter
Director of Research
MEER e.V., Berlin, Germany

Mario Rivera-Chavarria
Marine Biologist
University of Costa Rica

Marie A. Roch, Ph.D.
Professor of Computer Science
San Diego State University

Rosalind M. Rolland, D.V.M.
Senior Scientist
John H. Prescott Marine Laboratory
New England Aquarium

Naomi Rose, Ph.D.
Marine Mammal Scientist
Animal Welfare Institute

Heather Saffert, Ph.D.
Marine Scientist
Strategy Blue

Carl Safina, Ph.D.
Endowed Professor for Nature and Humanity
Stony Brook University

Gregory S. Schorr
Research Biologist
Cascadia Research Collective

Eduardo Secchi, Ph.D.
Professor
Instituto de Oceanografia
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Brazil

Mark W. Sprague, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Physics
East Carolina University

Richard Steiner
Professor (ret.)
University of Alaska

Jan Stel, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus of Ocean Space and Human Activity
International Centre for Integrated Assessment and Sustainable Development
Maastricht University, The Netherlands

Michael Stocker
Executive Director
Ocean Conservation Research

Lisa Suatoni, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist
Natural Resources Defense Council

Sean K. Todd, Ph.D.
Steve K. Katona Chair in Marine Science
Director, Allied Whale
Associate Academic Dean for Graduate Studies
College of the Atlantic

Scott Veirs, Ph.D.
President
Beam Reach Science & Sustainability School

Val Veirs, Ph.D.
Professor of Physics, Emeritus
Colorado College

Linda Weilgart, Ph.D.
Adjunct, Department of Biology
Dalhousie University

Hal Whitehead, Ph.D.
Professor of Biology
Dalhousie University

George M. Woodwell, Ph.D.
Founder and Director Emeritus
Woods Hole Research Center

Break out of those winter doldrums with the excitement and promise of the return of the humpback whales! A very special installment of our free Aquarium Lecture Series will dive into the world of these graceful leviathans with a look at them in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

Free lecture! 
Humpback Whales: In IMAX 3D and in our Backyard

• Thursday, March 26
• 7 p.m. 
• Simons IMAX Theatre
• RSVP to attend

A frisky calf breaches during a 2014 New England Aquarium Whale Watch

Attendees will first get to see our spectacular new IMAX movie, which introduces viewers to the whales' complex and fascinating lives beneath the waves through unparalleled, underwater 3D footage. Humpback Whales 3D is produced by MacGillvray Freeman Studios and was shot in Hawaii, Alaska and Tonga.

Despite those exotic movie locales, Boston has some of the world’s best, and possibly most accessible, humpback whale watching, just 25 miles to its east at the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. After the immersive experience of being underwater with the whales in the film, discover the whales you know from the surface of Cape Cod Bay Dr. Scott Kraus, Vice President of Research, New England Aquarium, Dr. David Wiley, Research Coordinator, Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, and Laura Howes, Director of Marine Education and Conservation, Boston Harbor Cruises (operator of New England Aquarium whale watches). You'll learn what draws the humpbacks so close to one of America’s largest cities, the highlights of last year's whale watching season and what challenges face America’s only whale feeding sanctuary.

The lecture is free! We simply ask that you RSVP online.

Passengers on a 2014 New England Aquarium Whale Watch get front-row seats to observe these gentle leviathans up close!

The lecture is timed perfectly to coincide with the start of New England Aquarium Whale Watches, set to resume the last weekend of March! Hardy souls can head out to Stellwagen and be among the first to welcome back the whales. Will we see familiar friends? Any new faces? Who had calves?! As always, we plan to keep landlubbers up to speed on the names and faces on the bank through our popular Whale Watch Log.

If you would rather watch whales from the cushy confines of the Simons IMAX Theatre, pick up tickets to see Humpback Whales 3D. Our newest IMAX film brings you into an underwater world packed with feeding frenzies, magnificent breaches and enchanting whale songs, seen now for the first time in IMAX 3D.

Get in the water with the whales with our newest IMAX film Humpback Whales 3D!

It's not all training and no fun for the runners on the New England Aquarium Marathon Team. In fact, this weekend the team is injecting some fun into their fundraising efforts with a fête right here at the Aquarium—and you're invited! Tickets for this fundraising party can be purchased online for $35 per person with the proceeds going toward the team (or the runner you choose in the drop-down menu).

Join us Saturday, March 7, buy tickets today!

And later this month, the team will find out what their fundraising supports! Local runners will be participating in a community outreach event at Norwell Public Library educating kids about whale bones, how whales eat, how we study whales, comparing different species and sizes and how we identify whales. If kids in the Boston area cannot get to the ocean, we'll bring the ocean to them!

Meg and Lee are returning runners. Here they at last year's event!

Shaark! with the 2014 Aquarium Marathon Team

Hope we'll see you this weekend as we Party with the Fishes on Saturday. If you live in Norwell, maybe we'll see you at the public library later this month, too! We'll post more updates about our marathon team as the April 20 race day approaches, stay tuned.

Support the New England Aquarium Marathon Team.

In case you've been buried under a snow pile the past couple weeks (and that's entirely possible), we have some fascinating, beautiful new animals that you just must see! You'll find them in all corners of the Aquarium and in all shapes and sizes. So start planning your visit!

Pharaoh cuttlefish (Sepia pharaonis)

First up, new cuttlefish! This sweet face belongs to a pharaoh cuttlefish, one of two new species we're exhibiting in our cuttlefish exhibit along with dwarf cuttlefish. Right now, both species are pretty tiny—but that won't last long. Come visit the young pharaoh cuttles before the outgrow their neighbors.

Smallmouth grunts in the Giant Ocean Tank

Now spiraling up the Giant Ocean Tank, it's hard to miss some of the newest additions in this 200-thousand gallon exhibit. That's because there are hundreds and hundreds of them! The divers recently added 500 smallmouth grunts to the Giant Ocean Tank. Not only are they beautiful to watch, they also tell an exciting story of sustainability. That's because these fish all started as microscopic eggs in a lab in Rhode Island and grew up in our off-site facility in Quincy before schooling in our four-story Caribbean reef!

Flame jelly (Rhopilema esculentum)