UMaine Mentioned in Smithsonian Science News Report on Whale Study
The University of Maine was mentioned in the Smithsonian Science News article “New study may help free whales from fishing rope entanglement.” The report cited a study published in the journal Marine Mammal Science that could help save many whales. Using vertebrae and muscle measurements from whale skeletons in museums and research facilities, a team of marine biologists created a chart estimating the maximum pulling force that different whale species can create with their tail flukes, according to the article. Knowing the values could aid in designing fishing rope that whales can break or nets with built-in weak links that come apart when a whale becomes entangled, the article states. William McLellan, a marine mammal expert at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, conducted the work with other researchers from the University of North Carolina Wilmington, as well as from UMaine, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and New River Kinematics. Becky Woodward, a research assistant professor of mechanical engineering at UMaine, is a co-author of the study.