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February 7, 1996
This is Anne Smrcina reporting from Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Right whales have been showing up off the Florida and Georgia coasts in large numbers, according to Chris Slay of the New England Aquarium's right whale research group.
One right whale, first spotted on Jan. 6, was entangled in lines and fishing gear. A radio transmitter was attached to the whale on Jan. 15. This transmitter was actually a tag used for tracking manatees! It was provided by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
On Jan. 24, the radio tag was removed and a satellite tag was attached. The US Coast Guard helped, using their Cutter named "Metompkin". Thus, the whale we are tracking has been named "Metompkin" in its honor. The Center for Coastal Studies in Massachusetts hopes to coordinate a disentanglement effort when the weather and the whale's position make it plausible.
Mapping Metompkin Here are latitude and longitude coordinates of "Metompkin's" journey since it was spotted on Jan. 6 through Feb. 3. See if you can follow its movements. To make it easier to track here, the numbers below have been rounded off to the nearest degree.
Jan 6: 30 N, 81 W
Jan 11: 29 N, 81 W
Jan 15: 30 N, 81 W
Jan 17: 29 N, 80 W
Jan 19: 30 N, 81 W
Jan 20: 31 N, 81 W
Jan 21: 31 N, 80 W
Jan 22: 31 N, 80 W
Jan 23: 32 N, 79 W
Jan 24: 32 N, 79 W
Jan 30: 34 N, 75 W
Feb 3: 36 N, 71 W
Chris Slay of the New England Aquarium's right whale research group has spotted what seems to be 8-10 calves so far this season. Other sightings have included one or two adults often accompanied by juveniles. These young whales are probably between one and several years old, but are not calves.
Several mother-calf pairs have been observed nursing, and several of the groups of adults and juveniles have been "Surface Active Groups" This means they are displaying rolling, body contact, and other kinds of courtship-type behaviors. Including calves, Chris estimates there may be 50 or more right whales in the southeast this winter. If you remember that there are only about 320 northern right whales in this entire population -- that's a significant portion! These recordings are made possible by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
In addition to recording births and tracking entangled whales, the right whale research group is also an important player in the Early Warning System for shipping. This is a way to help whales and ships whales avoid collisions.
Here's how it works: Aerial overflights from the two states give spotters a chance to see potential threats to the whales from commerical shipping and Navy vessels entering and leaving the busy ports in the area. Chris reports that vessel movements in the Mayport area appear to be on the increase as warships are reassigned to the Naval Base there. When the aerial observers sight a potential contact between ship and whale, they contact the vessel directly via VHF radio. Within the course of one day in January, the plane notified the Base about close approaches between whales and one large naval vessel and two submarines!
Contributed by:
Anne Smrcina,Education Coordinator, Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary
The Next Right Whale Migration Update Will be Posted on February 14, 1996.
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