Right Whale Migration Update: February 14, 2001 Today's Report Includes: Greetings from the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary It is Time to Celebrate! Get Out Your Maps and Plot Some Points Twenty-one and Counting! Challenge Question #3 Time for Some Math: Challenge Question #4 Northern Whales Munch Copepods Can You Locate These? How to Untangle a Whale? Whatzit! Challenge Question #5 Greetings from the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. This is Anne Smrcina with some really great news for everyone participating in Journey North. Read on! It is Time to Celebrate! The reports from the northern right whale calving grounds have been stupendous. We are seeing a banner year for calves! As of Tuesday, Feb. 13, the number of live calves sighted this season now stands at 21. Compare this to only one calf last season! Get Out Your Maps and Plot Some Points The first calf was spotted way back on Dec. 4, at coordinates 30 degrees 21 minutes N, 81 degrees 24 minutes W. Two adults and two calves were seen on Dec. 8, at 30.56N, 81.16W. The latest whale-calf pair was just reported off the coast of South Carolina. Can you find these coordinates and put them onto your map? Twenty-one and Counting! I talked to Phil Hamilton, a member of the New England Aquarium Right Whale Research Group that coordinates the sightings program in the calving grounds. He was really excited about the results to date. Although the calving rate is now slowing down, he predicts there might still be a few more calves born this season. In addition, some whales may have been born in waters not covered by the aerial overflights, and these whales don't get counted until they get to the feeding grounds in the Bay of Fundy later in the summer. Challenge Question #3 "Why are the numbers of right whale calves so large this year, when last year the count was only one calf?" (To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.) Time for Some Math Although our precious right whale population is increasing this year, it has been a slim past few years in population growth. The 1999 and 2000 season produced a total of only 4 calves, 1 calf last year, and 3 the previous year. Pull out your pencil and do this calculation: Challenge Question #4 "How many times more right whale calves are there this year than the last two years combined?" (To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.) Northern Whales Munch Copepods While new mothers are producing a bountiful crop of new calves in the southern waters, other northern right whales are feeding in Cape Cod Bay in much colder, more northern waters. These whales filter the zooplankton-rich waters for millions of copepods, small shrimp-like creatures, each smaller than a grain of rice. It is amazing that such large animals survive on such small prey. Can You Locate These? The Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, MA, undertakes regular Bay cruises and works with the National Marine Fisheries Service during aerial overflights to located whales in Cape Cod Bay. The information they gather is dispersed in Warnings to Mariners, to allow ship captains to adjust their tracks and avoid potential collisions with whales. The latest report, dated Feb. 12, notes that 7 whales were spotted within a 5.6 nautical mile radius of 42 00N, 70 09W; and another whale was feeding at approx. 41 51N, 70 16W. How to Untangle a Whale? View right side. Rope just below head.Courtesy of Center for Coastal Studies. In one of these cruises, Center scientists spotted a right whale entangled in some sort of rope. Fortunately, the entanglement did not look like a life-threatening situation. If the situation had been serious, the Center is empowered by the federal government to go out and disentangle the whale. They have a special unit, with highly trained specialists and equipment that can be sent out at a moment's notice. If the entanglement is distant from their location, the Coast Guard provides helicopter transport. You can read the report on this recent entanglement! Check out the Center for Coastal Studies' report Read about the right whale cruises in Cape Cod Bay this season The results of these cruise reports are compared to reports from the previous year. Do you see any differences or similarities between the two years? Population Factors: Discussion of Challenge Question #2 Last Update we asked what might some of the factors that are keeping right whale population numbers down? This is a complex question and you guessed that constant whaling over the centuries combined with low birth numbers were some of the biggest factors. We know that these factors are critical: The migration route takes the animals across the paths of major shipping channels into many ports along the eastern seaboard. "Collisions with ships" is the number one known cause of right whale mortality. Interactions with humans and changes to the right whale habitats may be affecting the health of individual animals and the birth rate. Entanglements in fishing gear may be another significant factor in whale safety. And another possibility has been raised concerning the low number of recent births. Overall, the animals appear thinner the past few years. This may be tied to the El Nino/La Nina phenomenon. If changing water temperatures led to changes in zooplankton populations, the whales may not have consumed a sufficient supply of food. If so, females that would have gotten pregnant during healthy years, may have aborted fetuses or bypassed pregnancy altogether. In years with good food supplies, the whales seem heavier and have a roll of fat just behind their blowholes. In lean years, that fat roll disappears. Whales and Big Ships We know that one of the greatest causes of whale death is collision with ships. In July 1999, the U.S. Coast Guard started the operation of two mandatory ship reporting systems to protect right whales. One system, WHALESNORTH, covers the approaches to Boston Harbor in Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts Bay and the Great South Channel. The other, WHALESSOUTH, covers the approaches to Brunswick, Fernandina and Jacksonville. The systems require all vessels of 300 gross tons or greater to report to the Coast Guard before entering the reporting areas. Whatzit! Click on image to enlarge. Every now and then we find a picture that is worth a thousand words. Rev up your imaginations and pull out your references and tell us what you think this is a picture of. (Clue: It has something to do with the text above.) Challenge Question #5 "Take a good look at the colorful picture, and using the clues in the picture, what do you think this is? " (To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.) That's all for now. This is Anne Smrcina, education coordinator 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 #3 (or #4, or #5). 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 28, 2001. Copyright 2001 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form