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To: Journey North
From: Anne Smrcina, Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary
Greetings once again. My week's vacation from Journey North was anything but a vacation as other Sanctuary duties filled my days. But, I'm back to reporting, albeit one day late this week.
Right whales seem to be departing Cape Cod Bay now, pretty much on schedule. Marilyn Marx reported that there were lots of whales on Saturday, April 13th, however, numbers dropped off quickly after that.
The US Coast Guard also reported in that they spotted a mother-calf pair at 41 degrees 42.52N, 69 degrees 49.39W and a single adult at 41 49.54N, 69 54.01W on April 12th, along with 6-9 more right whales about 3-5 miles west of Wellfleet in Cape Cod Bay. Helicopter pilots on Sanctuary and coastal patrols also spotted 3 whales at 41 49.7N, 70 22.7W on April 15th.
The April 18th Center for Coastal Studies research cruise may have spotted a new (for Mass. waters) mother-calf pair; and a whale watch group called in an additional sighting (possibly a total of 4 or 5 mother-calf pairs to date).
By April 22nd there was only one report of 2 right whales off Plymouth Harbor, and that was unconfirmed by the researchers.
Many of the whales spotted in Cape Cod Bay appeared to be skim feeding. Plankton tows taken near feeding whales indicate they are targeting patches of the copepod Calanus finmarchicus (this is a large copepod but still very small -- barely visible to the human eye).
Marilyn notes that these whales will probably feed in the Great South Channel (southeast of Nantucket and west of Georges Bank) for a couple of months. They will be feeding at depth and not using the surface skim feeding behavior shown in Cape Cod Bay. Later in the summer they will continue on up to the Bay of Fundy and Scotian shelf.
I'll start answering your questions (and there were a lot of really excellent questions this year) starting next week.
Reminder: Right Whale Curriculum Available Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary is offering a new right whale educator's book and poster to schools participating in Journey North. The unit is intended for middle school students, although activities and information can be adapted to upper or lower grades.
There is no charge for these materials. However, since we only have a limited number of books, we are asking that only one teacher per school contact the Sanctuary. Please provide school name, teacher contact name, phone number, e-mail, and number of students involved in the whale education unit.
You can e-mail your request to me at: asmrcina@ocean.nos.noaa.gov
Or mail your request to: Anne Smrcina
Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary
14 Union Street, Plymouth, MA 02360
Until next week, this is Anne Smrcina signing off.
The Next Right Whale Migration Update Will be Posted on May 1, 1996.
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