Houses biologists who perform studies in local Massachusetts and coastal New England waters, and at sites around the globe (Polar Regions, Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans). Special strengths in the department continue to include the ecology and physiology of microbes, bio-optical studies of phytoplankton, advanced optical and acoustic techniques for zooplankton distribution and behavior, the ecology, behavior, development and genetic history of invertebrates, mathematical analysis and computer modeling of life history, population dynamics and physical-biological interactions, toxicological and molecular biological research on pollution effects in the sea, and acoustical, anatomical and behavioral studies of marine mammals.