Marine Resources Council

North Atlantic right whales are one of the most endangered of the great whales. A remnant population of ~500 inhabits the eastern seaboard of North America. A small fraction (2%) travels south to their critical calving habitat along the Florida and Georgia coast. By late November and through the winter, right whales give birth and nurse their calves in these shallow waters before departing in early spring to their northern habitats. In the southeast critical habitat mother-calf pairs remain generally isolated from other whales, presenting a unique platform to study vocal development and learning in large whales. Using small boats, GPS-instrumented, free-drifting autonomous acoustic buoys were deployed in close proximity to 44 photo-identified mother-calf pairs over 7 calving seasons. Surface video and synchronized underwater recordings documented their social and vocal behavior. With the exception of some low-energy gunshot sounds, mothers, and their calves, remained predominantly silent during the first ...

ABSTRACT This report describes eye lesions observed in brown shrimp (Penaeus aztecus) which were chronically exposed to low levels of Empire Mix, Nigerian, and Saudi Arabian crude oils in 150 ft × 150 ft × 8 ft estuarine pond ecosystems. In live specimens, the lesions appeared as circular to slightly irregular white spots. In sectioned material, the lesions were characterized by the liquefactive necrosis of the crystalline cones, ommatidia, and all associated structures. Based on the appearance of these lesions in live specimens, this condition has been designated as the “white eye syndrome.”