A new teaching and research vessel at the University of Maine\u2019s Darling Marine Center is expanding student access to the largest ecosystem on Earth: the open ocean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new 45-foot vessel is the biggest in the center\u2019s fleet. Previously used as a commercial tuna fishing platform, the boat will support student training, faculty research and workforce development within the School of Marine Sciences and Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With docking stations at both the Darling Marine Center and in Portland, the vessel will give students and faculty improved access to offshore waters throughout New England, from the Gulf of Maine to Rhode Island. It has considerable range, with the ability to travel up to 100 miles offshore, cruise at 18 knots and carry 700 gallons of fuel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA tenet of my teaching philosophy has always been learning by doing,\u201d said Walt Golet, UMaine associate professor of marine science. \u201cThis vessel will serve as the perfect platform for our students to do just that. They\u2019ll get to be a part of field-based teaching, workforce skill development and applied research with our faculty, just to name a few. This vessel expands access to the open ocean and the amazing marine life in the Gulf of Maine like never before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Depending on the fieldwork, classes of up to 20 students or more can participate at once. Equipped with specialized safety equipment, a fully enclosed wheelhouse, an onboard generator, a heating system and a small galley, the boat is designed for extended trips and comfort, even in challenging weather. It also has two large bait wells, living quarters with four bunks, a head, a roof top crane, a pot hauler and a tuna door that can be used to bring large fish onboard for tagging or serve as a dive entry point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Golet has already been using the vessel for several undergraduate and graduate courses. The boat\u2019s platform allows students to tag fish and collect data that help track their movements and collect data for fisheries management. Golet, who leads the Pelagic Fisheries Lab<\/a> is utilizing the vessel to conduct his research on Atlantic bluefin tuna, billfish, sharks and other large migratory species and bring students onboard to participate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Working alongside faculty, students also assist with deploying gear and learn safety protocols for handling animals, as well as basic vessel and navigation skills \u2014 a reflection of UMaine\u2019s commitment to learner-centered R1, hands-on, real-world research learning opportunities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cConnecting students and stakeholders to coastal and marine resources is what the Darling Marine Center is all about, and this vessel expands the capacity to do that by making hands-on offshore research and learning experiences possible,\u201d said Sean Smith, the center\u2019s director. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to shark and tuna tagging projects, the vessel will support marine mammal and seabird surveys, fisheries research and other offshore studies. It will also enhance courses included in UMaine\u2019s Semester by the Sea program, which brings students from UMaine\u2019s Orono campus to the coast for an immersive marine science education<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The vessel was gifted by an anonymous donor who has a passion for cooperative research and education and sought to create more opportunities for UMaine students to experience the ocean firsthand. Its acquisition was a joint effort between the donor and UMaine\u2019s College of Earth, Life, and Health Sciences as part of the college\u2019s plan to enhance the fleet at the Darling Marine Center and support faculty based in Portland. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It compliments one of the center\u2019s existing research vessels, the Ira C, in creating a versatile fleet capable of supporting research across a wide range of environments and fields of study \u2014 from the Damariscotta River estuary to offshore banks and basins throughout the Gulf of Maine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Faculty are exploring additional ways they can take advantage of the vessel\u2019s size and range, including collaborative projects across the School of Marine Sciences and outreach opportunities that connect students, alumni and supporters with UMaine\u2019s ocean research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Contact: Ashley Yates; ashley.depew@maine.edu<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Categories:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marine Sciences<\/a> \/ Outreach<\/a> \/ Research<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A new teaching and research vessel at the University of Maine\u2019s Darling Marine Center is expanding student access to the largest ecosystem on Earth: the open ocean. The new 45-foot vessel is the biggest in the center\u2019s fleet. Previously used as a commercial tuna fishing platform, the boat will support student training, faculty research and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2406,"featured_media":7793,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","spc_primary_category":0},"categories":[388,58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aquaculture","category-marine"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":388,"label":"Aquaculture"},{"value":58,"label":"Marine"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/98\/2026\/03\/Research-vessel-news-feature-1536x867-1-1024x578.jpg",1024,578,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"lhecker","author_link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/author\/lhecker\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":388,"name":"Aquaculture","slug":"aquaculture","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":388,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":11,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":388,"category_count":11,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Aquaculture","category_nicename":"aquaculture","category_parent":0},{"term_id":58,"name":"Marine","slug":"marine","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":58,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":44,"count":27,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":58,"category_count":27,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Marine","category_nicename":"marine","category_parent":44}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2406"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7790"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7790\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7796,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7790\/revisions\/7796"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mafes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}