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74-398: On October 13, 2015, the plant's owners announced that it would close by June 1, 2019, citing "market conditions and increased costs," which would have included tens of millions of dollars of necessary safety upgrades. Following closure, decommissioning is expected to take decades for radiation to decay. Built at a cost of $ 231 million in 1972 by Boston Edison , the plant was sold in 1999 to

148-626: A 10 mile (16 km) plume exposure pathway zone, concerned primarily with exposure to and inhalation of airborne radioactive contamination ; and an ingestion pathway zone of about 50 miles (80 km), concerned primarily with ingestion of food and liquid contaminated by radioactivity. In 2010, 75,835 people lived within 10 miles (16 km) of Pilgrim, an increase of 40.5% in a decade (according to an analysis of U.S. Census data for msnbc.com). 4,737,792 people lived within 50 miles (80 km), an increase of 10.2% since 2000. Cities within 50 miles included Boston (35 miles to city center). PNPS operated

222-430: A few centimeters. Herrings are pelagic feeders. Their prey consists of a wide spectrum of phytoplankton and zooplankton , amongst which copepods are the dominant prey. Young herring usually capture small copepods by hunting them individually— they approach them from below. The (half speed) video loop at the left shows a juvenile herring feeding on copepods . In the middle of the image a copepod escapes successfully to

296-402: A few milliseconds ( filter feeding ). In the photo on the right, herring ram feed on a school of copepods . The fish all open their mouths and opercula wide at the same time (the red gills are visible—click to enlarge). The fish swim in a grid where the distance between them is the same as the jump length of their prey, as indicated in the animation below. In the animation, juvenile herring hunt

370-475: A group of small crustaceans found in ocean and freshwater habitats . They are the biggest source of protein in the sea, and are important prey for forage fish. Krill constitute the next biggest source of protein. Krill are particularly large predator zooplankton which feed on smaller zooplankton. This means they really belong to the third trophic level, secondary consumers, along with the forage fish. Together, phytoplankton and zooplankton make up most of

444-555: A joint venture with Hydro-Québec and Northeast Utilities to build a new High-voltage direct current (HVDC) line from Windsor, Quebec (connecting with the Quebec - New England Transmission line) to a location in central New Hampshire. It is projected that the line will either run in existing right-of-way adjacent to the HVDC line that runs through New Hampshire, or it will connect to a right-of-way in northern New Hampshire that will run through

518-468: A local group which filed numerous legal and procedural challenges. The state attorney general also raised questions about, among other issues, the dangers posed by the onsite storage of spent nuclear fuel. In April 2013, the station increased its security following the Boston Marathon bombing . In July 2013, the plant had to reduce output during a heat wave despite very high electricity demand, because

592-536: A predator. The herrings keep a certain distance from a moving scuba diver or cruising predator like a killer whale, forming a vacuole which can look like a doughnut from a spotter plane. The intricacies of schooling is far from fully understood, especially the swimming and feeding energetics. Many hypotheses to explain the function of schooling have been suggested, such as better orientation, synchronized hunting, predator confusion and reduced risk of being found. Schooling also has disadvantages, such as excretion buildup in

666-450: A preeminent forage fish, often marketed as sardines or pilchards . The term "forage fish" is a term used in fisheries , and is applied also to forage species that are not true fish but play a significant role as prey for predators. Thus invertebrates such as squid and shrimp are also referred to as "forage fish". Even the tiny shrimp-like creatures called krill , small enough to be eaten by other forage fish, yet large enough to eat

740-493: A single reactor unit with a boiling water reactor and a steam turbine generator. The cooling and service water systems operated as a once-through cooling system, with Cape Cod Bay being the water source. The water was circulated in the plant's heat exchanger in the same manner as any fossil-fuel powered power plant, using the seawater to remove heat from primary coolant away from sources of radioactive contamination. Approximately 480 million gallons of seawater were withdrawn daily from

814-456: A small number of corporate fishing and processing companies. Forage fish populations are very vulnerable when faced with modern fishing equipment. They swim near the surface in compacted schools, so they are relatively easy to locate at the surface with sophisticated electronic fishfinders and from above with spotter planes . Once located, they are scooped out of the water using highly efficient nets, such as purse seines , which remove most of

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888-503: A teardrop shaped body. Like other crustaceans they have an armoured exoskeleton , but they are so small that this armour, and the entire body, is usually transparent. Copepods are usually the dominant zooplankton . Some scientists say they form the largest animal biomass on the planet. The other contender is the Antarctic krill . But copepods are smaller than krill, with faster growth rates, and they are more evenly distributed throughout

962-464: Is a spectacular migration by millions of silvery sardines along the southern coastline of Africa. In terms of biomass, the sardine run could rival East Africa's great wildebeest migration . Sardines have a short life-cycle, living only two or three years. Adult sardines, about two years old, mass on the Agulhas Bank where they spawn during spring and summer, releasing tens of thousands of eggs into

1036-515: Is affected by ocean currents . Around Iceland maturing capelin make large northward feeding migrations in spring and summer. The return migration takes place in September to November. The spawning migration starts north of Iceland in December or January. The diagram on the right shows the main spawning grounds and larval drift routes. Capelin on the way to feeding grounds is coloured green, capelin on

1110-405: Is performed by algae . This is a contrast to land, where most primary production is performed by vascular plants . Algae ranges from single floating cells to attached seaweeds , while vascular plants are represented in the ocean by groups such as the seagrasses . Larger producers, such as seagrasses and seaweeds, are mostly confined to the littoral zone and shallow waters, where they attach to

1184-504: Is pumped through their pipe lines. In July 2007, NSTAR Electric introduced a new program called NSTAR Green. In May 2008, NSTAR Green signed ten-year contracts for sixty megawatts of wind power from two wind farms in New York and Maine. They offered their customers a chance to buy 50-100 percent of their power from these wind farms. Power purchased through NSTAR Green would reduce reliance on fossil fuels that are traditionally used to meet

1258-524: Is usually based primarily on zooplankton, although, since they are omnivorous, they also take in some phytoplankton. Young forage fish, such as herring, mostly feed on phytoplankton and as they mature they start to consume larger organisms. Older herrings feed on zooplankton , tiny animals that are found in oceanic surface waters , and fish larvae and fry (recently hatched fish). Copepods and other tiny crustaceans are common zooplankton eaten by forage fish. During daylight , many forage fish stay in

1332-538: The Boston urban area. NSTAR became a subsidiary of Northeast Utilities in April 2012. In February 2015, Northeast Utilities and all of its operating companies (Western Massachusetts Electric, Public Service New Hampshire, Connecticut Light and Power, Yankee Gas, and NSTAR Gas and Electric) became one large company known as Eversource Energy . NSTAR was formed in 1999 by the merger of BEC Energy and Commonwealth Energy System and had

1406-551: The Coriolis effect . Wind-driven surface currents interact with these gyres and the underwater topography, such as seamounts and the edge of continental shelves , to produce downwellings and upwellings . These can transport nutrients which plankton thrive on. The result can be rich feeding grounds attractive to the plankton feeding forage fish. In turn, the forage fish themselves become a feeding ground for larger predator fish. Most upwellings are coastal, and many of them support some of

1480-767: The Longwood Medical Area of Boston. Electric power distribution in the New England area is coordinated by ISO New England , a regional transmission organization . In 2002, NSTAR Electric and Gas Corporation was cited by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for discharging oil into the Charles River . The EPA also stated that NSTAR had failed to prepare spill plans at four of its facilities, in Brighton, Cambridge, Needham, and West Roxbury, where oil

1554-496: The Louisiana -based Entergy Corporation , part of a complex deal that was the result of deregulation of the electrical utility industry. On April 11, 1986, a recurring equipment problem forced an emergency shutdown of the plant. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) called it ″one of the worst-run″ nuclear plants in the country. Pilgrim kept its spent nuclear fuel in an on-site storage pool, waiting for federal direction on

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1628-489: The Seabrook Station nuclear power plant to FPL Group in 2002. On November 16, 2006, the company announced a 7.4% increase in its dividend to an annual rate of USD1.30 per common share from the previous USD1.21. NSTAR has ownership of unregulated district energy and telecommunications businesses, including Medical Area Total Energy Plant, LLC. which produces electricity, steam and chilled water for sale to customers in

1702-442: The copepods in synchronization: The copepods sense with their antennae the pressure-wave of an approaching herring and react with a fast escape jump. The length of the jump is fairly constant. The fish align themselves in a grid with this characteristic jump length. A copepod can dart about 80 times before it tires out. After a jump, it takes it 60 milliseconds to spread its antennae again, and this time delay becomes its undoing, as

1776-472: The plankton in the sea. Plankton is the term applied to any small drifting organisms that float in the sea ( Greek planktos = wanderer or drifter). By definition, organisms classified as plankton are unable to swim against ocean currents; they cannot resist the ambient current and control their position. In ocean environments, the first two trophic levels are occupied mainly by plankton . Plankton are divided into producers and consumers. The producers are

1850-437: The unaided eye . They can appear as a green discoloration of the water when they are present in high enough numbers. Since they increase their biomass mostly through photosynthesis they live in the sun-lit surface layer ( euphotic zone ) of the sea. The most important groups of phytoplankton include the diatoms and dinoflagellates . Diatoms are especially important in oceans, where they are estimated to contribute up to 45% of

1924-498: The NSTAR facility, and possibly flowed into the Charles river, which is downstream of Sawins Pond. Many local activists lobbied for NSTAR to abide by state regulations and spend the $ 20–40 million required to perform a PCB remediation of the affected lands. By 1997 NSTAR was responsible for nearly 50 hazardous waste sites, and by 2006 all but 5 of these had been cleaned up. NSTAR has signed on

1998-564: The White Mountains. This 180- to 190-mile line, projected to carry 1,200 megawatts, will carry electricity to approximately one million homes. In October 2010, Northeast Utilities and NSTAR announced they would merge, with the resulting company retaining the Northeast Utilities name. Under the terms of the transaction, NSTAR shareholders received 1.312 Northeast Utilities common shares for each NSTAR share that they own. The merger

2072-806: The almost endless stream of herrings allows a herring to eventually snap the copepod. A single juvenile herring could never catch a large copepod. Forage fish often make great migrations between their spawning, feeding and nursery grounds. Schools of a particular stock usually travel in a triangle between these grounds. For example, one stock of herrings have their spawning ground in southern Norway , their feeding ground in Iceland , and their nursery ground in northern Norway. Wide triangular journeys such as these may be important because forage fish, when feeding, cannot distinguish their own offspring. Fertile feeding grounds for forage fish are provided by ocean upwellings. Oceanic gyres are large-scale ocean currents caused by

2146-410: The aquatic organisms were impinged into the cooling system, they were discharged back into the bay as sediment. The resulting shadow effect killed plant and animal life around reactor discharge systems by curtailing the light and oxygen they need to survive; however, the intake and discharge canals remained a popular and lucrative local recreational fishing spot for local residents. The NRC's estimate of

2220-407: The bay through an intake embayment formed by two breakwaters, and then re-deposited into the bay causing a change in temperature at peak times (ΔT) of 3 °C (5.4 °F). During that process, the greatest environmental impact to the bay occurred through impingement and entrainment (I&E) of sea organisms and species. Entrainment occurs when small aquatic life forms are carried into and through

2294-415: The best facilities aquaria can offer they become sluggish compared to their quivering energy in wild schools. Copepods are a group of small crustaceans found in ocean and freshwater habitats . Many species are planktonic (drifting in the ocean water), while others are benthic (living on the sea floor). Copepods are typically one millimetre (0.04 in) to two millimetres (0.08 in) long, with

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2368-537: The biomass of pollock has declined in recent years, perhaps spelling trouble for both the Bering Sea ecosystem and the commercial fishery it supports. Acoustic surveys by NOAA indicate that the 2008 pollock population is almost 50 percent lower than last year's survey levels. Some scientists think this decline in Alaska pollock could repeat the collapse experienced by Atlantic cod , which could have negative consequences for

2442-621: The breathing media and oxygen and food depletion. The way the fish array in the school probably gives energy saving advantages, though this is controversial. On calm days, schools of herring can be detected at the surface a mile away by little waves they form, or from several meters at night when they trigger bioluminescence in surrounding plankton . Underwater recordings show herring constantly cruising at high speeds up to 108 cm per second, with much higher escape speeds. They are fragile fish, and because of their adaptation to schooling behaviour they are rarely displayed in aquaria . Even with

2516-716: The coast towns still promote the traditional practice of fishing by lateen sail boats for tourism and festivals. Pilchard fishing and processing thrived in Cornwall between 1750 and 1880, after which stocks went into an almost terminal decline. Recently (2007) stocks have been improving. The industry has featured in many works of art, including Stanhope Forbes and other Newlyn School artists. Traditional commercial fisheries were directed towards high value ocean predators such as cod , rockfish and tuna , rather than forage fish. As technologies developed, fisheries became so effective at locating and catching predator fish that many of

2590-410: The coastline. When threatened, sardines instinctively group together and create massive bait balls . Bait balls can be up to 20 meters (66 feet) in diameter. They are short lived, seldom lasting longer than 20 minutes. As many as 18,000 dolphins, behaving like sheepdogs, round the sardines into these bait balls, or herd them to shallow water (corralling) where they are easier to catch. Once rounded up,

2664-713: The cooling system during water withdrawals. Impingement occurs when organisms are trapped against cooling water intake screens or racks by force of moving water. PNPS has been regularly monitoring I&E levels since 1974. They have reported I&E losses of millions of aquatic organisms each year. The EPA evaluated all species known to be impinged and entrained by the facility, including commercial, recreational, and forage fish species. Based on information provided in facility I&E monitoring reports, approximately 68 species have been identified in I&;E collections since 1974, and 26 of these have commercial or recreational value. During

2738-585: The correct disposal process. The Yucca Mountain site in Nevada was being considered for this purpose until its deselection in 2009. Pilgrim's original license to operate would have expired in 2012. In 2006, Entergy filed an application for an extended operating license (until 2032) with the NRC. In May 2012, the NRC approved the 20-year extension, with chairman Gregory Jaczko the lone dissenting vote. Opposition to Pilgrim's license extension came mainly from Pilgrim Watch ,

2812-462: The current into waters off the west coast, where the larvae develop into juvenile fish. When they are old enough, they aggregate into dense shoals and migrate southwards, returning to the Agulhas banks in order to restart the cycle. Herring has been known as a staple food source since 3000 B.C. In Roman times, anchovies were the base for the fermented fish sauce called garum . This staple of cuisine

2886-401: The currents, tides and winds instead. Zooplanktons can reproduce rapidly, their populations can increase up to thirty percent a day under favourable conditions. Many live short and productive lives and reach maturity quickly. Particularly important groups of zooplankton are the copepods and krill . These are not shown in the images above, but are discussed in more detail later. Copepods are

2960-632: The day and plants at night, while others alternate summer carnivory with winter herbivory. They are in turn eaten by billfish , mackerel , and sharks . Forage fish are the food that sustains larger predators above them in the ocean food chain. The superabundance they present in their schools make them ideal food sources for top predator fish such as tuna , striped bass , cod , salmon , barracuda and swordfish , as well as sharks , whales , dolphins , porpoises , seals , sea lions , and seabirds . Forage fish compensate for their small size by forming schools . These sometimes immense gatherings fuel

3034-486: The dolphins and other predators take turns plowing through the bait balls, gorging on the fish as they sweep through. Seabirds also attack them from above, flocks of gannets , cormorants , terns and gulls . Some of these seabirds plummet from heights of 30 metres (98 feet), plunging through the water leaving vapour-like trails behind like fighter planes. The eggs, left behind at the Agulhas Banks, drift northwest with

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3108-424: The entire Bering Sea ecosystem. Salmon, halibut, endangered Steller sea lions, fur seals, and humpback whales eat pollock and depend on healthy populations to sustain themselves. Eighty percent of the forage fish caught are fed to animals, in large part due to the high content of beneficial long chain omega-3 fatty acids in their flesh. Ninety percent is processed into fishmeal and fish oil . Of this, 46 percent

3182-439: The following operating units: Boston Edison Company , Cambridge Electric Light Company , Commonwealth Electric Company , and NSTAR Gas Company (formerly Commonwealth Gas and Cambridge Gas Company ). As a part of deregulation of the local electrical power industry , NSTAR has divested itself of all electric generation facilities, keeping only those elements of the business which remain regulated. NSTAR sold its interest in

3256-401: The great marine predators. The predators are keenly focused on the shoals, acutely aware of their numbers and whereabouts, and make migrations themselves that can span thousands of miles to connect, or stay connected, with them. The ocean's primary producers , mainly contained in phytoplanktons , produce food energy and biomass photosynthetically from sunlight and are the raw fuel for

3330-478: The high power level caused the reactor water level to drop below -46 inches. After passing this point, the emergency core cooling system automatically activated. Operators using the RCIC and HPCI systems promptly restored the reactor water level to normal. Ironically, it was found that the pumps tripped due to a design flaw in a recent SCRAM reduction program intended to make the pumps less likely to trip. Quick action by

3404-402: The left. The opercula (hard bony flaps covering the gills ) are spread wide open to compensate the pressure wave which would alert the copepod to trigger a jump. If prey concentrations reach very high levels, the herrings adopt a method called "ram feeding". They swim with their mouth wide open and their opercula fully expanded. Every several feet, they close and clean their gill rakers for

3478-637: The license renewal process, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission found that the significance of the potential environmental impacts of renewal would be small, with the exception of marine aquatic resources. Due to I&E, the continued operation of the cooling water system would rarely have impact on the local winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) population, and the Jones River population of rainbow smelt, and cumulative impacts on other marine aquatic species would be small to moderate. After

3552-455: The lines of the diagram at the right, which show how biomass or productivity changes at each trophic level in an ecosystem . The first or bottom level is occupied by primary producers or autotrophs ( Greek autos = self and trophe = food). These are the names given to organisms that do not feed on other organisms, but produce biomass from inorganic compounds, mostly by a process of photosynthesis . In oceans, most primary production

3626-468: The losing side when faced with the machinery of contemporary industrial fishing. Altogether, forage fish account for 37 percent (31.5 million tonnes) of all fish taken from the world's oceans each year. However, because there are fewer species of forage fish compared to predator fish, forage species fisheries are the largest in the world. Seven of the top ten fisheries target forage fish. The total world catch of herrings, sardines and anchovies alone in 2005

3700-651: The lower trophic level of the food chain , often by filter feeding . They include particularly fishes of the order Clupeiformes ( herrings , sardines , shad , hilsa , menhaden , anchovies , and sprats ), but also other small fish, including halfbeaks , silversides , smelt such as capelin and goldband fusiliers . Forage fish compensate for their small size by forming schools . Some swim in synchronised grids with their mouths open so they can efficiently filter plankton. These schools can become immense shoals which move along coastlines and migrate across open oceans. The shoals are concentrated energy resources for

3774-710: The most productive fisheries in the world. Regions of notable upwelling include coastal Peru , Chile , Arabian Sea , western South Africa , eastern New Zealand and the California coast. Capelin are a forage fish of the smelt family found in the Atlantic and Arctic oceans. In summer, they graze on dense swarms of plankton at the edge of the ice shelf. Larger capelin also eat krill and other crustaceans . The capelin move inshore in large schools to spawn and migrate in spring and summer to feed in plankton rich areas between Iceland , Greenland , and Jan Mayen . The migration

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3848-446: The most spectacular schooling fish. They aggregate together in huge numbers. Schools have been measured at over four cubic kilometres in size, containing about four billion fish. These schools move along coastlines and traverse the open oceans. Herring schools in general have very precise arrangements which allow the school to maintain relatively constant cruising speeds. Herrings have excellent hearing, and their schools react very fast to

3922-498: The ocean food webs . Forage fish transfer this energy by eating the plankton and becoming food themselves for the top predators. In this way, forage fish occupy the lower-central positions in ocean and lake food webs. The fishing industry sometimes catch forage fish for commercial purposes (i.e. as seafood ), but primarily for use as feeder fish to raise more valuable piscivorous animals (e.g. salmon farms ). Some fisheries scientists are expressing concern that this will affect

3996-615: The ocean food web. Most forage fish are pelagic fish , which means they form their schools in open water, and not on the bottom ( benthic fish ) or near the bottom ( benthopelagic fish ). They are short-lived, and go mostly unnoticed by humans, apart from an occasional support role in a documentary about a great ocean predator. While we may not pay them much attention, the great marine predators are keenly focused on them, acutely aware of their numbers and whereabouts, and make migrations that can span thousands of miles to connect with them. After all, forage fish are their food. Herring are among

4070-503: The ocean than there are forage fish. Forage fish occupy central positions in the ocean food webs . The position that a fish occupies in a food web is called its trophic level ( Greek trophē = food). The organisms it eats are at a lower trophic level, and the organisms that eat it are at a higher trophic level. Forage fish occupy middle levels in the food web, serving as a dominant prey to higher level fish, seabirds and mammals. Ecological pyramids are graphical representations, along

4144-423: The oceans. This means copepods almost certainly contribute more secondary production to the world's oceans than krill, and perhaps more than all other groups of marine organisms together. They are a major item on the forage fish menu. Copepods are very alert and evasive. They have large antennae . When they spread their antennae they can sense the pressure wave from an approaching fish and jump with great speed over

4218-468: The operators prevented a more serious low-water incident. It was the first time in the station's history that reactor water level reached a low-low condition and activated emergency core cooling systems. On January 27, 2015, the plant underwent a storm-induced unplanned shutdown. The plant was shut down May 31, 2019 and began the process of decommissioning. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission defined two emergency planning zones around nuclear power plants:

4292-607: The phytoplankton (Greek phyton = plant) and the consumers, who eat the phytoplankton, are the zooplankton (Greek zoon = animal). Forage fish feed on plankton . When they are eaten by larger predators, they transfer this energy from the bottom of the food chain to the top and in this way are the central link between trophic levels . Forage fish are usually filter feeders , meaning that they feed by straining suspended matter and food particles from water. They usually travel in large, slow moving, tightly packed schools with their mouths open. They are typically omnivorous . Their diet

4366-417: The phytoplankton in oceanic surface waters , and include tiny crustaceans , and fish larvae and fry (recently hatched fish). Most zooplankton are filter feeders , and they use appendages to strain the phytoplankton in the water. Some larger zooplankton also feed on smaller zooplankton. Some zooplankton can jump about a bit to avoid predators, but they cannot really swim. Like phytoplankton, they float with

4440-529: The populations of predator fish that depend on them. The practice of harvesting forage fish can also be a sign of overfishing as fish stocks of larger species in the fisheries are depleted thus forcing the industry to start fishing down the food web . Typical ocean forage fish are small, silvery schooling oily fish such as herring , anchovies and menhaden , and other small, schooling baitfish like capelin , smelts , sand lance , halfbeaks , pollock , butterfish and juvenile rockfish . Herrings are

4514-420: The region’s electricity demand. NSTAR has had its share of environmental mishaps, including nearly a dozen spills at its former Watertown, Massachusetts facility. The spills, most of which occurred during the 1980s, consisted of transformer oil, which contained PCBs in high concentrations (6,200 Parts Per million). These spills have contaminated nearby Sawins and Williams Pond , both of which are downgradient of

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4588-419: The safety of deep water, feeding at the surface only at night when there is less chance of predation. They swim with their mouths open, filtering plankton from the water as it passes through their gills. Ocean halfbeaks are omnivores which feed on algae , plankton, marine plants like seagrass , invertebrates like pteropods and crustaceans and smaller fishes. Some tropical species feed on animals during

4662-584: The same zooplankton as forage fish, are often classified as "forage fish". Forage fish utilise the biomass of copepods , mysids and krill in the pelagic zone to become the dominant converters of the enormous ocean production of zooplankton. They are, in turn, central prey items for higher trophic levels . Forage fish may have achieved their dominance because of the way they live in huge, and often extremely fast cruising schools. Though forage fish are abundant, there are relatively few species. There are more species of primary producers and apex predators in

4736-693: The school. Spawning patterns in forage fish are highly predictable. Some fisheries use knowledge of these patterns to harvest the forage species as they come together to spawn, removing the fish before they have actually spawned. Fishing during spawning periods or at other times when forage fish amass in large numbers can also be a blow to predators. Many predators, such as whales, tuna and sharks, have evolved to migrate long distances to specific sites for feeding and breeding. Their survival hinges on their finding these forage schools at their feeding grounds. The great ocean predators find that, no matter how they are adapted for speed, size, endurance or stealth, they are on

4810-427: The stocks collapsed. The industry compensated by turning to species lower in the food chain. In former times, forage fish were more difficult to fish profitably, and were a small part of the global marine fisheries. But modern industrial fishing technologies have enabled the removal of increasing quantities. Industrial-scale forage fish fisheries need large scale landings of fish to return profits. They are dominated by

4884-405: The temperature of water drawn from Cape Cod Bay exceeded 75 °F, the limit set by the NRC. On August 22, 2013, with the plant online at 98% power, two of the plant's main feedwater pumps tripped, causing a drop of the reactor water level. Operators inserted a manual SCRAM to shutdown the reactor prior to the third feedwater pump subsequently tripping. The loss of feedwater and sudden trip from

4958-435: The total ocean's primary production. Diatoms are usually microscopic , although some species can reach up to 2 millimetres (0.079 in) in length. The second trophic level ( primary consumers ) is occupied by zooplankton which feed off the phytoplankton . Together with the phytoplankton, they form the base of the food pyramid that supports most of the world's great fishing grounds. Zooplankton are tiny animals found with

5032-413: The underlying substrate and are still within the photic zone . Most primary production in the ocean is performed by microscopic organisms , the phytoplankton. Thus, in ocean environments, the first bottom trophic level is occupied principally by phytoplankton , microscopic drifting organisms, mostly one-celled algae , that float in the sea. Most phytoplankton are too small to be seen individually with

5106-456: The water. The adult sardines then make their way in hundreds of shoals towards the sub-tropical waters of the Indian Ocean . A larger shoal might be 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) long, 1.5 kilometers (0.93 miles) wide and 30 meters (98 feet) deep. Huge numbers of sharks, dolphins, tuna, sailfish, Cape fur seals and even killer whales congregate and follow the shoals, creating a feeding frenzy along

5180-490: The way back is blue, and the breeding grounds are red. In a paper published in 2009, researchers from Iceland recount their application of an interacting particle model to the capelin stock around Iceland, successfully predicting the spawning migration route for 2008. Schooling forage fish are subject to constant attacks by predators. An example is the attacks that take place during the African sardine run . The African sardine run

5254-512: The yearly risk of an earthquake strong enough to cause core damage to the Pilgrim reactor was 1 in 14,493, according to their study published in August 2010, making it the second-most-at-risk plant when it was still operating. NSTAR (company) NSTAR was a utility company that provided retail electricity and natural gas to 1.4 million customers in eastern and central Massachusetts , including

5328-458: Was 22.4 million tonnes, 24 percent of the total world catch. The Peruvian anchoveta fishery is now the biggest in the world (10.7 million tonnes in 2004), while the Alaskan pollock fishery in the Bering Sea is the largest single species fishery in the world (3 million tonnes). The Alaskan pollock is said to be the largest remaining single species source of palatable fish in the world. However,

5402-576: Was completed in 2012. On February 2, 2015, Northeast Utilities and all its subsidiaries, including NSTAR, began to brand themselves as Eversource Energy . Forage fish Forage fish , also called prey fish or bait fish , are small pelagic fish that feed on planktons (i.e. planktivores ) and other small aquatic organisms (e.g. krill ). They are in turn preyed upon by various predators including larger fish, seabirds and marine mammals , this making them keystone species in their aquatic ecosystems . The typical ocean forage fish feed at

5476-528: Was produced in industrial quantities and transported over long distances. Fishing for sardela or sardina ( Sardina pilchardus ) is an ongoing activity on the Croatian Adriatic coasts of Dalmatia and Istria . It traces its roots back thousands of years. The region was then largely a Venetian dominion, part of the Roman Empire . The area has always been sustained through fishing mainly sardines. Along

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