Tues., 2/3, 6 to 8 p.m., The Last Round Bar & Grille, 908 Purchase St., New Bedford. Open to everyone. Free, save for the beer!
Engineer Richard Riels, will discuss “Ropeless Lobster Traps; Protecting the Lives of Marine Mammals & the Livelihood of Harvesters.”
Rich is the Executive Director of SMELTS, the Sea Mammal Education Learning Technology Society, an organization that designs tools/ technologies to reduce the negative impact of human activity on marine life. Worldwide, countless marine mammals are entangled, killed or maimed by unbreakable vertical nylon lines. Whole fisheries are at risk, including, off this coast, critically endangered North Atlantic Right Whales, whose low numbers (about 380) have put pressure on the lobster industry and its rope-heavy gear.
Rich will demonstrate SMELTS’ patented line-free “Lift Raft,” a cage that sits on the seafloor at one end of a string of traps. Upon receiving an acoustical blip – “a dolphin call”—from a ship above, it releases compressed air and rises to the surface. Hundreds are already in use.
“The Industrial Revolution was built thanks to whales and their oil,” notes Rich. “We owe them so much, starting with ridding our oceans of ropes that kill them.”
Free parking in rear of building. Videos of recent events can be found on our website.
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