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Right Whale Migration Update: January 31, 2001
Today's Report Includes:
- Greetings from the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary
- Right Whales Visit Our National Marine Sanctuaries
- Some Right Whale Facts
- Challenge Question #1
- Challenge Question #2
- Oh Where-Oh Where Can That Right Whale Be?
- Learn About Stellwagen Bank Marine Sanctuary
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 with the first of several installments on the right whale migration.
Right Whales Visit Our National Marine Sanctuaries
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However, the Gray's Reef Sanctuary, off the coast of Georgia, is very near the right whale calving ground. It is located In the ocean off the Georgia and Florida coasts. The northern right whales' cousin, the Pacific Ocean right whale, also an endangered species may sometimes visit our west coast sanctuaries. A Pacific right whale was seen in the Monterey Sanctuary two years ago.
- Link to learn more about National Marine Sanctuaries.
Some Right Whale Facts
Why is this the Right Whale?
We here at the Sanctuary are particularly interested in the northern right whale, the most endangered of the great whales. Scientists believe there are only 300 or so of these animals left in the North. The southern right whale, of which there are a few thousand found off South America, South Africa and Australia, is believed to be a completely different species. Many scientists now support the idea that the North Atlantic and North Pacific right whales are also different species due to the length of time that they have been geographically isolated.
Hunters Historically Sought Them Out
Right whales were once found widely along the east and west coasts of the North Atlantic. But hunting pressures over many hundreds of years led to today's small numbers. Basque whalers from the European continent came to North America in the 1500s to hunt these whales after decimating the populations off their own shores. The right whales are large and slow, with thick layers of blubber and long racks of baleen, up to 6 or more feet in length. Both the valuable blubber and the versatile baleen made the whales well worth hunting. The whales often feed right at the ocean surface, and float when killed, making them the "right" whale to hunt. Do some more research on your own and see if you can answer this question:
Challenge Question #1
"What is baleen and why was it so valuable to right whale hunters?"
(To respond to this question, please follow
the instructions below.)
Populations Not Quick to Recover
Right whales probably never had a large population to begin with, and constant whaling over centuries kept the
numbers down. By the mid 1930s, when the League of Nations (the forerunner of the United Nations) persuaded most
whaling countries to give the whales protection, their numbers were pitifully low. Although hunting has ceased,
other factors may be keeping the population numbers down. Births during the past few years have been very few.
In 2000 only one right whale calf was seen. In the years prior to that, the birth numbers were also low.
Challenge Question #2
"What might some of the factors today that are keeping right whale population numbers down?"
(To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.)
Photo courtesy of East Coast Ecosystems
Oh Where-Oh Where Can That Right Whale Be?
The migration route of the right whale is not as cut and dried as other animal species. We know that the
pregnant females go to the warm coastal waters off of Georgia and northern to central Florida to have their calves.
Some non-pregnant females, males and juveniles have been seen feeding during the winter months in Cape Cod Bay
(and to a lesser extent southern Stellwagen Bank). Feeding continues during April through June in the Great South
Channel (an area between Nantucket and George's Bank) which lies within the major north-south shipping channel
off the NY-MA coast. However, this is only a fraction of the entire population. We do not know where most of the
animals are during this time period.
In the late summer and early fall right whales congregate in the Bay of Fundy and off the coast of Nova Scotia
in areas believed to be breeding and feeding grounds. Scientists suspect there may be other calving, breeding and
feeding grounds (perhaps a bit further offshore) that we just don't know about at this time.
Learn About Stellwagen Bank Marine Sanctuary
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.
Just three miles away, Provincetown is the closest community to the Sanctuary. This ocean landform is protected
as a part of the National Marine Sanctuary program.
In my next report I should have some first-person accounts of aerial surveys from the calving grounds off Georgia/Florida
and the feeding grounds in Cape Cod Bay. Until then, this is Anne Srmcina of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine
Sanctuary signing off.
How to Respond to Today's Right Whale Challenge Question:
IMPORTANT: Answer only ONE question in each e-mail message.
1. Address an E-mail message to: jn-challenge-rwhale@learner.org
2. In the Subject Line of your message write: Challenge Question #1 (or #2)
3. In the body of the EACH message, give your answer to ONE question above.
The Next Right 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
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