Gulf of Maine Ocean Observing System | About the Gulf of Maine

About the Gulf of Maine

The Gulf of Maine connects New England states (Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine) and Canadian provinces (New Brunswick and Nova Scotia) with 36,000 square miles of ocean, 7,500 miles of shoreline, and roughly 5,000 islands. Its watershed is comparable in size and extends deep beyond the neighboring shoreline.

Click here, or on the map for a larger image.

This computer rendering of shaded relief, which enhances the apparent depth of features on the ocean bottom, shows the complex array of banks, ridges, gullies, and basins that extend as deep as 1,500 feet (500 meters) beneath the ocean surface in the Gulf of Maine. Georges Bank and Browns Bank - in some places as shallow as 13 feet (4 meters) - mark the offshore boundary between the Gulf of Maine and the rest of the Atlantic Ocean. The GOM bathymetry has been exaggerated 75 times to make it easier to see subtle bottom features.
Map originally created for the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment by Northern Geomantics.

Click here, or on the map for a larger image.

An international waterbody
A sea within a sea
Like a garden, blooming plants feed a rich abundance of marine life
Fish
Whales and seals
Birds
Home to people and a source of their economic well-being

An international waterbody

New England states (Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine) and Canadian provinces (New Brunswick and Nova Scotia) form the boundaries of the Gulf of Maine.

A sea within a sea

Bounded by underwater offshore banks, three forces push the prevailing current in a counterclockwise circle around the Gulf creating a unique, self-contained oceanographic system. The varied topographical features of the Gulf's seafloor, extending out to 200 miles offshore, make it very different from the rest of the Atlantic Coast.

Cold water currents from the North Atlantic enter the Gulf through the Northeast Channel.
Freshwater flows into the Gulf from more than 60 rivers (250 billion gallons/year).
The configuration of the shoreline and underwater features amplifies tides in the Gulf. Tides range from near 10 feet north of Cape Cod to a world record 50 feet in the Bay of Fundy.

Like a garden, blooming plants feed a rich abundance of marine life

The Gulf of Maine is richer in nutrients than almost any other place in the earth's oceans.

The ocean "garden" is fertilized with high concentrations of dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide in the cold seawater from the north and nutrients carried by the rivers. The powerful tides mix them together.
An abundance of microscopic plants called phytoplankton bloom in the aquatic garden, serving as a food supply for a huge variety of animals.

Fish

The Gulf of Maine supports hundreds of species of fish and shellfish. Fifty-two species are commercially harvested.

Some varieties of fish live in the Gulf year-round, including cod, haddock and flounder. These fish, as well as northern shrimp, lobsters, crabs and scallops, live on or near the seabed.
Other fish live in the water column and migrate from the south to feed and spawn in the Gulf's rich waters during the summer and fall, such as mackerel, menhaden, herring and squid.
Atlantic salmon migrate to the Gulf from the North Atlantic to spawn in the rivers where they were born.

Many scientists are studying the decline in fish stocks. Over-fishing, migration, and climatic and water quality changes may all be contributors.

Whales and seals

At least 18 species of marine mammals spend some part of the year in the Gulf of Maine.

The five large whale species, humpback, fin, minke, sei, and right whales, are all baleen whales, which feed on the Gulf's abundant supply of plankton. About 3,500 of these whales visit the Gulf each year.
The North Atlantic right whale is the most endangered of the large whales, with a population of only 300 individuals. Right whales feed in the spring and early summer in the southern Gulf of Maine then migrate to mouth of the Bay of Fundy for breeding and more feeding.
30,000 harbor seals spend all or part of the year in the Gulf.
More reclusive gray seals are at their extreme southern limit along the coast of Maine.

Birds

A diverse abundance of birds feed and breed in the Gulf.

One to two million migrating shorebirds stopover each year to feed on the immense tidal flats surrounding the Bay of Fundy, including 50% of the world's semipalmated sandpipers.
Diving ducks, including eiders, buffleheads, goldeneyes, scoters, oldsquaw and mergansers feed in the Gulf's shallow waters. Eiders stay around all year, while the others leave only to breed.
Great blue herons, osprey and bald eagles nest and hunt for food in the bays and marshes of the Gulf.
The smallest and farthest offshore islands are nesting habitat for tens of thousands of pairs of seabirds, including gulls, terns, cormorants, petrels, guillemots and others.

Home to people and a source of their economic well-being

The abundance of fish in the Gulf sustained Native Americans and attracted the first European settlers. Today, fishing supports about 20,000 fishermen who harvest 530,000 metric tons of shellfish and finfish worth about $650 million.

Over 10 million tourists visit the Gulf of Maine each year to enjoy the beauty of the coast, as well as its natural and cultural history and recreational opportunities.

Since the 1800s shipping has been an important use of the Gulf. Today petroleum products are the primary cargo.

People love the Gulf, recognize its value and are trying to sustain its environmental quality. Individuals and teams from organizations, institutions and government are working daily to better understand the complex nature of the Gulf of Maine. Some of the many on-going efforts include:

Collaborative research projects that bring fishermen and scientists together to study the Gulf. These teams combine the knowledge, techniques and resources of the scientist with the experience and wisdom of the fisherman.
Redesigning fishing gear to limit or prevent the catching of juveniles and unintended species. Fishermen are also involved in research projects, collecting data each day as they fish.
Research projects to understand the life cycles and needs of marine life, from the tiniest phytoplankton to huge whales. What kind of habitat do lobster larvae thrive in? Have codfish been depleted or migrated - or some of both? How do we keep rivers healthy and accessible to the fish that live in the ocean but breed in Maine's rivers?
Extensive volunteer activities around the Gulf that range from the routine monitoring of changes in water quality and coastal habitats to the acquisition of significant coastal habitats for long term protection.

GoMOOS hopes to aid these efforts by collecting a variety of data from above and below the water surface. This data is a rich resource, being used by scientists, resource managers, educators, fishermen and volunteers as they all strive to learn how best to protect the Gulf of Maine - its beauty, its health and its invaluable contribution to the livelihood of many of the region's residents.