August 22, 2024 — Brooke Flammang, a biologist at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), has been awarded nearly $680,000 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as part of a growing nationwide effort to save the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis).
NOAA Fisheries recently unveiled a more than $9 million initiative funded by the Inflation Reduction Act to support a coalition of universities, nonprofits and scientific organizations engaged in the recovery of the species, which has seen its numbers dwindle to roughly 360 individuals today due to factors ranging from climate-driven changes to its habitat, to fishing gear entanglements and vessel strikes.
As part of the collaborative effort, Flammang’s Fluid Loco Lab at NJIT will spearhead the development of non-invasive tag attachment technology to offer near real-time tracking of the species, inspired by the way certain marine life attaches to whales for their survival. The advances could improve our understanding of changes in the whales’ reproduction, distribution patterns and habitat use that have coincided with rising temperatures in its key ocean habitats in recent decades, such as the Gulf of Maine, which has warmed faster than 99% of the global ocean, according to NOAA.