Humpback Whale Migration Update: January 31, 2001 Today's Report Includes: Greetings from the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary What is Stellwagen Bank and Why is it a National Marine Sanctuary? Stellwagen One of Top Ten: Challenge Question #1 No Whales Today, They Have Gone Away Challenge Question #2 and #3 Correspondents from Dominican Republic Add New Dimension! Whales, Whales, Where Do You Go? Challenge Question #4 Greetings from the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Ahoy there, from the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. This is Anne Smrcina, education coordinator of the Sanctuary and your humpback and right whale correspondent. Although I am not a research scientist, I will be in contact with many such individuals up and down the North American coast during the upcoming months to develop these bi-weekly reports. My field "reporters" include lots of people. They range from scientists with many years of experience doing research both in the Caribbean and on Stellwagen Bank, whalewatch naturalists who know many of the whales by name from daily excursions, and students who are participating in "tall ship" and other field experiences. What is Stellwagen Bank and Why is it a National Marine Sanctuary? Map of Stellwagen area showing Cape Anne and Cape Cod Stellwagen Bank is an underwater shelf, that sits at the mouth of the Massachusetts Bay. If you look at a map of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (officially Mass. calls itself a Commonwealth and not a State), you will see that there are two prominent capes along the eastern boundary with the Atlantic Ocean (or more precisely, the Gulf of Maine). The northern cape is Cape Ann. The famous fishing port Gloucester (made popular in The Perfect Storm) is one of the communities located on this piece of land. The southern cape is the world-renowned Cape Cod, home of the Cape Cod National Seashore and many vacation homes. Sitting at the very tip of Cape Cod is Provincetown. Provincetown, just three miles away, is the closest community to the Sanctuary. This ocean landform is protected as a part of the National Marine Sanctuary program. Map courtesy of NOAA The National Marine Sanctuary program is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration There are 13 sites designated in the United States. Stellwagen Bank was nominated for National Marine Sanctuary status because of its importance as a whale feeding ground (and whalewatching destination) and because of its long history as an important fishing ground. Congress designated the Sanctuary in 1992 with legislation that was signed by President George Bush (the father of our present President). Link to the The National Marine Sanctuary program. Stellwagen One of Top Ten The World Wildlife Fund calls Cape Cod one of the ten top whalewatching sites in the world. However, there is relatively little whalewatching from shore. Almost all whalewatching on Cape Cod happens on commercial and recreational boats that depart from Cape ports, most often Provincetown, and go out to the Sanctuary. So, in actuality, it's Stellwagen Bank that should be on that Top 10 list. Challenge Question #1: "Why do you think Stellwagen Bank is so attractive to whales and fish?" (To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.) No Whales Today, They Have Gone Away The humpback whales that we commonly see on visits to the Sanctuary in summer months are now, for the most part, down south in the Caribbean. Two popular whale calving and breeding grounds down south off the coast of the Dominican Republic are Silver Bank (several hours steaming off the coast) and Samana Bay. Pull out your maps and atlases and see if you can locate the Dominican Republic. Then see if you can answer these questions: Challenge Question #2 "What are the approximate latitude and longitudes of The Silver Bank and Samana Bay?" Challenge Question #3 "With so much ocean area in the Caribbean, what characteristics attract the humpbacks to the waters around the Dominican Republic?" (To respond to these questions, please follow the instructions below.) Correspondents from Dominican Republic Add New Dimension! I am making arrangements to have regular reports come to us this spring from a student participating in a Sea Education Association tall ship cruise to Silver Bank and Samana Bay, and from scientists connected with the Humpback Whale Sanctuary in the Dominican Republic. Stay tuned for their interesting humpback reports coming soon. Whales, Whales, Where Do You Go? While most of the whales in the North Atlantic visit the Caribbean in the winter, there are a few that seem to forego the trip. In past years we have seen whales on Stellwagen Bank during the Christmas Bird Count cruise, however, we don't know for sure if any whales spend the entire winter up here. Whales have also been seen off the Virginia coast. We are very interested to know just where the whales can be found throughout the year. A project we are sponsoring at the Center for Coastal Studies (a major whale research center on Cape Cod) includes year-round monthly cruises to estimate humpback populations. Challenge Question #4 "Why do you think some whales don't head south like the others?" (To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.) This is Anne Smrcina signing off for this week. I'll be filing my next report on Feb. 14th and will hopefully have some first person sightings from the calving grounds. How to Respond to Today's Challenge Question: IMPORTANT: Answer only ONE question in each e-mail message. 1. Address an e-mail message to: jn-challenge-hwhale@learner.org 2. In the Subject Line of your message write: Challenge Question #1 (or #2, #3, or #4) 3. In the body of EACH message, answer the question above. The Next Humpback Whale Migration Update will Be Posted on February 7, 2001. Copyright 2001 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form