MAINE PUBLIC • June 20, 2022
Recent research shows that plankton growth rates in the Gulf of Maine are slowing down, posing challenges for the rest of the ecosystem. Plankton are at the foundation of the Gulf of Maine's highly productive ecosystems, turning the sun's energy into food consumed by other creatures higher up the food chain. For 23 years, scientists at East Boothbay's Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences have been measuring plankton productivity across the Gulf. Barney Balch, a senior scientist at Bigelow, says, "the productivity of the Gulf of Maine has dropped to about a third of what it used to be in the late 90s."