Hello Marmam Community! The Maine Department of Marine Resources is planning monthly aerial surveys in the Gulf of Maine targeting sightings of large whales, specifically North Atlantic right whales. Sightings of right whales from these aerial surveys will be used to inform density and occupancy models for right whales, as well as identify overlap with fixed fishing gear in the Gulf of Maine that may pose a risk of entanglement. I wanted to share the Request for Proposals that the State of Maine just published for this work. Please distribute to any colleagues you think might be interested! Document is linked here<https://www.maine.gov/dafs/bbm/procurementservices/sites/maine.gov.dafs.bbm.procurementservices/files/rfps/RFP%20202401015%20GOM%20Aerial%20Surveys%20FINAL.docx>. It can also be found on the State of Maine's website at this link<https://www.maine.gov/dafs/bbm/procurementservices/vendors/rfps>. The proposals are due April 19th. Questions can be sent to Sarah Leiter (sarah.leiter@maine.gov<mailto:sarah.leiter@maine.gov>). Official questions must be received by March 29th to be included in the RFP materials. Thank you for helping us get the word out! Best, Erin Summers Director, Division of Marine Mammal Research Maine Department of Marine Resources erin.l.summers@maine.gov<mailto:erin.l.summers@maine.gov>