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Right Whale Migration Update: February 28, 2001

Today's Report Includes:

Greetings from the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.

Photo Courtesy of East Coast Ecosystems

Right whales continue to feed in the northern feeding grounds of Cape Cod Bay -- with 9 whales reported on Feb. 22 by the Center for Coastal Studies aerial survey team. The whales were located in a 7.1 nautical mile radius from position 41.93N, -70.23W. There has been a steady sighting of whales from this general location over the past month.

Challenge Question #6
"Locate the position of the whales at 41.93N and -70.23W. Then look for landmarks within a 7.1 nautical mile radius (a nautical mile is 6080 feet verses a mile is 5280 feet). Can you list some landmarks?"


(To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.)

16,000 Nautical Miles of Sightings- All Time High Sightings!
There has also been a wealth of sighting data from the southern calving grounds off Florida and Georgia. A February 16 report from the Calving Ground offers up some good news. Seventy-eight days into the season the New England Aquarium's Right Whale survey team has flown 16,000 nautical miles of track-lines and documenting 147 sighting. According to Chris Slay of the NE Aquarium, this is an all time high, besting the 1996 mark of 121. From the surveys they have identified 20 mothers and calves, and information sent from another researcher off South Carolina provided proof of another new right whale.

That's 21 new right whales this season, a very positive number!

"This survey work (noting all sightings and documenting new whales) will help scientists answer important questions about these whales' behavior and biology," notes Chris in a report he sends to a Right Whale Research Network. You can read this and other interesting right whale news posted on the WhaleNet Web page.

This information may help determine how fast and far these nursing whales wander around the calving ground.
Whales Soon to Make Journey North
What would it be like to take a long trip and have to walk all the way by yourself? Imagine those baby calves and their mothers traveling on that long journey north to the feeding grounds. It is a journey full of treacherous obstacles and potential disasters, but each year the whales continue their migration.

Challenge Question #7
"How long would it take a Right Whale to travel from Cape Canaveral, Florida to Provincetown, Cape Cod, Mass. if they traveled at the rate of 25 nautical miles per day?"


(To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.)

Hint: Get out your maps and atlases or go to a distance calculator on the WWW to help with your calculations.

Ship Strikes Averted
The aerial survey teams operating off the coasts of Georgia and Florida have recently reported several close encounters between right whales and ships. Their stories are both riveting and revealing in a number of ways.
Chris Slay continues, "On at least three occasions last week, we made radio contact, directly or indirectly, to large vessels that changed their course and/or altered speed to avoid right whales."
In one case, he reported,

"The crew had difficulty making contact with a freighter, which was nearing the location of a mother/calf pair they had sighted. They called a dredge-ship nearby. The crew in the wheelhouse of the dredge was very familiar with the right whale situation, having worked in the area for several days. They managed to raise the freighter on VHF and relay the info being sent from the plane. The crew in the plane watched as the freighter changed course, about a half-mile from the pair."

Another Harrowing Close Call
This report is from the offshore aerial survey team jointly supported by the Florida Marine Research Institute (a unit of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission) and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Lisa Conger tells the story of a very harrowing experience during their flight on January 7th.

"As the plane flew to the offshore area after lunch, a mother and calf right whale pair was sighted. Upon taking a closer look, we recognized the pair as Mavynne (#1151) and her calf, already seen and reported by the EWS team that day. However, when we looked around, we saw a large fast moving container ship headed straight for them..."

And Now for the Hardy Ones, More Happenings at Northern Feeding Grounds
Sharing all this wonderful whale news from the warm southern waters doesn't mean we can forget about the northern feeding grounds Cape Cod Bay! You can check on the almost daily sighting reports and maps from the National Marine Fisheries Service yourself!

"Moon" Sighted with Her Sixth Calf!
One cow sighted this spring Moon (#1157), is now a grandmother. She has been sighted here with her sixth calf of record. One of her earlier calves, a 14-year old female (#1703), has also been seen with her first calf. Also heartening are the reports of calving by Bay of Fundy mothers (cows that are seen in the Bay of Fundy during the summer and fall). For the last several years, they had produced no calves. The calves produced during the 1998-99 and 1999-00 seasons were by mothers that spend the summer and fall in areas other than the Bay of Fundy.

Teacher Tip
SEARCH FOR THE RIGHT WHALE, by Scott Kraus, and Kenneth Mallory, might be just the book for your whale library collection. This book for children was chosen as one of 1993's best books by School Library Journal. Part of the "Face to Face with Science" Crown Children's Books for Young Readers Series, SEARCH FOR THE RIGHT WHALE documents the story of the rarest whale in the ocean, the North Atlantic right whale, whose population may be as few as 350 animals.

That's all for this report. I'm hoping to have more good news in my next report. This is Anne Smrcina of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary signing off.

Why So Many Calves This Year? Discussion of CQ #3
Last update we asked, "Why are the numbers of right whale calves so large this year, when last year the count was only one calf?"
I guess we only needed to think of one of the basic human needs and transfer that to our aquatic mammal friends. Food is the answer, or at least one of the most important! Based on the recent findings of Dr. Charles "Stormy" Mayo at the Center for Coastal Studies, the speculation is that the increased number of calves this season is related to the increase in the production of copepods in Cape Cod Bay.

Sonar Imaging!
Sounds are really waves of energy that move through a medium, either water or air. Because they are waves, they travel forward until they hit something. The waves then bounce back, or are reflected back off of the object they hit. Early sonar systems, developed during World War I by the American, British, and French, were used to find both submarines and icebergs. These early units were crude if not effective. During World War II, underwater acoustics made great leaps and enemy submarines could be detected more easily by surface ships as they sent a stronger and better formed sound pulse into the water. The pulse would bounce off the submarine's hull and give away their distance from the surface ship.
Now there is a way to create a picture with the bounced waves of energy. Using really high frequency sounds, the sonar unit can "see" an image of what is in front of a ship. Which brings us to a "whatzit."

What's a Whatzit! Discussion of Challenge Question #5

Click on image to enlarge.

In our last update we shared some of the factors that we know affect the right whale population. Experts agree that "collisions with ships" is the number one known cause of right whale mortality. Using a combination of creative problem solving and the latest in technology, a new product has been created to help the whales. It is called a "sonar imaging devise." Ships mount this sonar unit on the bow of their boats. It sends a sound signal out into the water in all directions to detect any large objects, including whales. The "Whatzit" image is a right whale image as it is seen using this new sonar devise! Don't hit it!

Thanks to Mrs. Kloewer's 7th grade science class in York, Nebraska, for their well-thought out answer,

"We think the colors on the picture show how deep the water is. Large ships would have to travel in deeper water, probably where the right whales are. The coast guard probably has to show the big ships where the channel is like the way they mark the channel on the Missouri River so the barges don't get stuck."

Visit the The University of Rhode Island for more details on this incredible devise and how it can help save our right whales.

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 #6 (or #7)
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 March 14, 2001

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