Right Whale Migration Update: March 28, 2001 Today's Report Includes: Greetings from the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary This Year's Calves Continue to Make Big News! Picture This! Graphing to Analyze Population Trends Challenge Question #10 Propeller Wounds Kill Right Whale Calf Shipping Lane Shared-Be On Alert! Analogies: Discussion of Challenge Questions #8 and #9 Greetings from the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. The various right whale patrols in the northern grounds reported a total of 30 right whales today. Many of the Stellwagen sightings were in proximity of the outbound Boston traffic lanes. Jooke Robbins from the Center for Coastal Studies was out on patrol this week and shares his report, "We circumnavigated the bank in excellent weather and sighted 8-12 right whales at the southwest corner and a single minke whale at the north end." We heard some not so good news out of Virginia of another whale-ship collision and a dead calf. Read further to learn more about this unfortunate incident. This Year's Calves Continue to Make Big News! Right whales made headlines in two newspapers last week. The St. Petersburg Times reported, "Last year the future looked bleak for the endangered right whale. Scientists feared the right whale was headed for extinction. But an increase in births provides new hope." This year's calving season has yielded 26 calves, the largest number since biologists began documenting the whales' numbers in the 1980s. "We had a great season," said Cyndi Taylor Thomas of the St. Petersburg-based Florida Marine Research Institute. The article continues, "These days, when right whales die, it's usually because they were hit by a ship -- like manatees, they are hard to spot from the water -- or because they became tangled in fishing gear that tightens as they grow, eventually slicing into their flesh. "Of the 300 or so right whales that remain, about 70 are breeding females. Over the past few years the birth rate dropped considerably from the high of 22 in 1996. The following year there were 18 calves. In 1998 only five calves were born. In 1999, there were only four. Then came last year's sole birth....:" Link to read the entire article. The news is encouraging, say whale researchers and advocates. But they disagree about whether this signals a brighter future for the most endangered large whale species in the world. What do you think? Picture This! Graphing to Analyze Population Trends Year Recorded Births 1996 22 1997 18 1998 5 1999 4 2000 1 2001 26 Take a look at the graphing possibilities you can explore. Scientists and researchers are concerned about the plight of the endangered right whale. Although protected since 1935, this large aquatic mammal is struggling on the brink of extinction. In 2001, a large increase in recorded births provides hope for this small group of whales. Here is a simplified population graphing exercise to serve as a springboard for discussions of the factors that are involved in studying population dynamics. Use the right whale birth data to create graphs to help you get a picture or idea of the trends for population growth of this endangered species. Population Graphing the Right Whale Be sure to read the newspaper article above to learn more of the factors involved in this complicated issue, then challenge yourself to this: Challenge Question #10: "Does the explosion of births in 2001 signal a brighter future for the right whale? List all the factors that affect the right whale population growth which might have caused the population to rise (or fall) as the data show." (To respond to these questions, please follow the instructions below.) Propeller Wounds Kill Right Whale Calf Right whales migrating along major shipping routes continue to reduce the right whale population. A 25-foot right whale calf washed ashore about five miles north of Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge visitor's center in Virginia, March 19. The VIRGINIAN-PILOT, a newspaper out of Chincoteague, went on to report, "The nursing calf was no more than 90 days old, they said, on its way from birthing grounds in the southeast to its spring feeding area off New England, when it ran into the vessel. The propeller cut five deep wounds, including some that hit the animal's spinal column. "Dozens of scientists and researchers, joined by federal officials and members of the Virginia Marine Science Museum Stranding Team, examined the 25-foot whale to help understand where and how it met its death. "It was sad, they said, while at the same time an opportunity to examine a creature rarely seen anywhere. It was the first right whale stranding in Virginia in many years." Scott Kraus, director of the Edgerton Research Laboratory in Boston, has been studying right whales for 20 years, and so much is known about the remaining stock that examining skin tissue will likely reveal the identity of its mother, possibly even its father. Susan Barco, a Marine Science Museum research scientist quoted in the article, said right whale numbers are so low they're close to the brink of extinction. ``That's why every single one of them is extremely important.'' Read the full VIRGINIAN-PILOT news article. Shipping Lane Shared-Be On Alert! Map courtesy of NMFS. The death of another right whale is indeed very serious for the population. If you look at the map of the Cape Cod Bay area (see on the Web) you will see a couple of interesting things. First of all, the bay is the destination for many ships that run cargo up and down the eastern seaboard. Second, this shipping lane is the same one often used by migrating right whales. Third, you can see that there is a large area outlined on the map labeled "Ship Reporting System Area." This map is an example of a consorted effort between many groups to protect our precious right whale population. In an effort to reduce the number of ship strikes, NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and the U.S. Coast Guard have developed and implemented "Mandatory Ship Reporting Systems." When ships greater than 300 gross tons enter two key right whale habitats - one off the northeast U.S. and one off the southeast U.S.-- they are required to report to a shore-based station. In return, ships receive a message about right whales, their vulnerability to ship strikes, precautionary measures the ship can take to avoid hitting a whale, and locations of recent sightings. Read more about the sightings made in this Ship Reporting area. Analogies: Discussion of Challenge Questions #8 and #9 "How is a mitten like a whale?" In the colder parts of North America we know that on those really cold days one would opt to wear a mitten and not a glove. Mittens keep your fingers together and allow them to share their body heat better than gloves. In a similar way, whales have adapted to keeping their bodies warm through evolution. They have round bodies with small appendages. The smaller surface area helps to keep their bodies from losing heat in cold ocean waters. Completing Challenge Question #9, required some thinking. We came up with "fluke:tail :: baleen:sieve" and "monarch:Mexico :: right whale:Dominican Rebublic." What about you? 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 #10 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 April 11, 2001. Copyright 2001 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form