WASHINGTON – A $59,000 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration grant has been awarded to the University of Maine to fund three research projects by university research scientists that will be conducted aboard NOAA vessels.

The research projects that will benefit from the NOAA grant include taking additional measurements of sea-bit pockmarks in Penobscot Bay, beach erosion, and the distribution and dispersal of lobster larvae, according to U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, who announced the grant in a joint press release.