The mission of the New England Aquarium is to increase understanding of aquatic life and environments, to enable people to act to conserve the world of water and to provide leadership for the preservation and sustainable use of aquatic resources. The Aquarium has an internatinoal research and conservation program with a proven ability to collaborate and develop solutions to protect the ocean. This page has links to the Right Whale Research Project, the Right Whale Conservation Medicine Program, the Biological Effects of Offshore LNG Port Areas, Marine Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Hermit Crab Shell Selection, Elasmobranch Mortality and Stress Physiology, Digital Image Gathering and Information Tracking System (DIGITS), Coral Reef Ecology, the Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction and American Lobster Research Program.

Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction

• Avoid species depletion with collaboration between scientists and the fishing industry

• Understanding interactions between threatened species and fishing operations

• View program page

 

Coral Reef Ecology

• Develop and test hypotheses explaining the diversity of reef corals

• Explore reef herbivory and corallivory in the Caribbean

• View program page

 

Digital Image Gathering and Information Tracking System (DIGITS)

• Bring our photographic monitoring of right whales into the digital era

• Archive digital images and sightings data in an easily usable format

• View program page

 

Elasmobranch Mortality and Stress Physiology

• Assess the physiologic stress response in elasmobranchs

• Document species-specific differences

• View program page

 

Hermit Crab Shell Selection

• Determine the benefits of vacancy chains in terrestrial hermit crabs
• Determine the effect of previous shell quality on future success in shell acquisition

• View program page

 

American Lobster Reserach Program

• Conduct research on lobster biology, behavior, physiology, health and disease

• Produce year-round supply of lobsters for collaborative research efforts

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Marine Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

• Explore relationships between marine organisms and their environments

• Integrate spatial techniques, tools and knowledge into existing new programs

• View program page

 

Biological Effects of Offshore LNG Port Areas

• Elucidate whether LNG infrastructures are altering the distribution of local species

• Assess whether the port operations/exclusion zones are affecting fauna

• View program page

 

Sustainable Aquaculture Project

• Improve sourcing decisions of large companies

• Improve standards and the standard setting process for aquaculture

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Sustainable Ornamental Fish Initiative

• Determine the impact of harvest on reef ecosystems

• Promote sustainable harvest and environmentally stewardship

• View program page

 

Right Whale Conservation Medicine Program

• Study health and reproduction in living right whales

• Examine the connections between right whale health and their environment

• View program page

 

Right Whale Research Project

• Keep the North Atlanic right whale from going extinct

• Conduct rigorous science to fully understand right whale biology

• View program page