To: Journey North
From: Anne Smrcina
Stellwagen Bank National Marine
Sanctuary
Plymouth, Massachusetts
Greetings from Massachusetts --
This is a very short report this week. No word from the Dominican Republic and no humpback whales up here yet.
Researchers from the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, MA have been out in Cape Cod Bay studying right whales over the past few weeks. They report having seen 2 fin whales lunge feeding just off the northern point of Cape Cod (Race Point) last week. Right whales are here in large numbers (perhaps up to 40), with 3 mother-calf pairs.
I have no Challenge Question for you this week, but I do have an answer for last week's question about "breaching." Humpbacks, the acrobats of the ocean, are known for their repetoire of interesting behaviors, including flipper slaps, tail lobbing (slapping the water with their tail flukes), spy-hopping (putting their heads out of the water), and breaches (jumping partially or almost all the way out of the water). The breaches and slapping behaviors have been attributed to feeding -- the noise and disturbance in the water may confuse fish to allow the whales to lunge and capture the stunned prey. Other possibilities are communication (sound can travel great distances in the ocean), to move food through their systems, or to dislodge parasites (all whales have whale lice -- a type of crustacean that may or may not play a beneficial or detrimental role). The breaching behavior may slough dead skin and keep the whale clean. And the last possibility is fun -- breaches may be the whale's form of play (although adults have been seen breaching, many juvenile whales demonstrate this behavior, often many times in a row). This play behavior in juveniles may be training for the other behaviors (feeding, etc.) or it just might be youthful exuberance.
Instead of my Challenge Question to you this week, I'm turning the tables. It's your turn to ask the questions. I'm looking forward to some interesting "Ask the Expert" questions in the upcoming days. My next report will be coming to you in two weeks, along with as many answers as I can manage.
Until April 24th, this is Anne Smrcina from the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary signing off.
The Next Humpback Whale Migration Update Will be Posted on April 24, 1996
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