Climate change challenges whales, fishers and scientists as new federal rules take effect
On Monday federal regulators will close a big swathe of Maine’s coastal waters to traditional lobster and crab harvests. It’s an effort to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales from entanglement in fishing gear. But in Maine, many lobstermen fear it’s the beginning of the end of a way of life.
Climate Change Upends Gulf of Maine Food Webs
The ocean islands off the coast of Maine are home to the Atlantic puffin, a peculiar and charismatic bird. This cold-weather species loves to hang out on rocky shores, chomping down on little fish.
But like many species, these puffins are threatened by climate change. Rapid warming in the Gulf of Maine has changed the food available in their habitat, creating a bizarre problem of “micro-puffins”: members of the species 40 to 50% smaller than normal, due to malnutrition.
Maine Lobstermen Forced To Diversify Their Work As Coastal Waters Warm
The waters off the coast of Maine are some of the fastest warming saltwater seas in the world. That warmth is disrupting fisheries and livelihoods. Some fishermen in Maine are adapting to disruption, even capitalizing on it. Maine Public Radio’s Fred Bever reports.
A Maine Startup Wants To Pull Carbon Out Of The Atmosphere Using Kelp
A Maine startup is drawing high-profile support for its low-tech plan to address climate change. It wants to use kelp farms to capture carbon, then bury it for millennia at the bottom of the sea.
Biden’s Call For Rapid Offshore Turbine Development Faces Stiff Headwind From Maine Fishermen
Last week, President Joe Biden told federal regulators that to combat global warming, they should speed up the deployment of offshore wind-energy turbines, with the goal of supplying enough to power 10 million homes by the end of this decade.
Scientists Say More Right Whales Are Dying Off Canada As Climate Change Disrupts Food Sources
For the past several years, including this one, endangered North Atlantic right whales appear to have been bypassing traditional feeding grounds off Maine’s coast, congregating instead off Canada in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where some are dying.
Power Struggle In The Maine Woods
Central Maine Power says if its transmission project in western Maine is approved, Mainers won’t pay a cent for it — but they will see lower electric bills, among other things.
But there will be winners and losers, and environmentalists have a hard choice to make. On one hand, the proposal would bring low-polluting hydroelectricity into New England, and on the other, it could have serious scenic and environmental consequences.
The Sounds Of A Manhunt
The manhunt for the Boston Marathon bombing suspects that started with the fatal shooting of a MIT police officer and led to a shootout on the streets of Watertown that left one police officer seriously wounded, and much of Greater Boston paralyzed, will not soon be forgotten.
We listen back to the sounds that marked that day.
Study Shows Gulf of Maine Yellowing, After Scientists Find Data Hiding in Plain Sight
Over the last century the Gulf of Maine’s blue waters have yellowed. That’s what scientists at the Bigelow Laboratory in East Boothbay reported in a recent study this month, and it indicates trouble for the microscopic plants that are the foundation of the gulf’s food chain.
And the findings wouldn’t be possible were it not for some overlooked 19th-century work the researchers didn’t realize was right under their noses.
Why Maine Lobstermen Are Looking To Farmed Scallops To Stay Afloat
The booming lobster industry faces some tough new challenges, and some industry leaders are betting on diversification to hedge against the unpredictable. This story is the first in a series, “Aquaculture’s Next Wave,” focusing on promising alternatives gaining steam in Maine.
Maine’s Seasonal Businesses Feeling Economic Effects Of The Coronavirus
Maine has seen one of the country’s lowest rates of hospitalization and deaths from COVID-19, and the lowest in the entire Northeast.
But its economy relies heavily on summer visitors — many from states where the virus is still rampant. With Memorial Day approaching, tourism businesses are worried summer may be over before it has begun.