Hi from Plymouth -- home of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.
We just got a report in from Dave Mattila, a humpback whale researcher with the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, MA, that hundreds of humpbacks were spotted during a February visit to Silver Bank Sanctuary off the Dominican Republic (the bank is about 220 miles from Puerto Rico via boat, and about 75 miles from the port of Porto Plata in the Dominican Republic). Dave was accompanying a Venezuelan television crew that is doing a special on humpbacks (they -- the TV people -- may be coming up to Stellwagen Bank this summer; we're also planning on seeing the humpbacks).
Dave reports that during the cruise they spotted quite a few whales off the bank -- whales were generally traveling in an east to west direction toward Silver Bank. He was surprised that there were a lot fewer competitive groups this year than in past years (males competing for females) but that it appears that most of the whales have paired up. He saw one very young calf on Feb. 19th that might have been only a few hours or days old. It was very light in color and its dorsal fin was flopped over. (Scientists believe that most humpbacks are born in Jan. and Feb.)
Here's a question for you. IF WHALES ARE BORN IN JAN. OR FEB. IN THE CARIBBEAN, HOW CAN THESE VERY YOUNG ANIMALS POSSIBLY MAKE THE LONG TREK TO THE GULF OF MAINE IN THE SPRING?
Carol Carlson, another researcher from the Center for Coastal Studies, reported seeing Othello (a well-known whale that has often been seen in the Gulf of Maine) about 45 miles N. of the Dominican Republic.
Dave also reports that some feeding behavior has been seen in the Caribbean, although this behavior is usually observed up north (there's also more food up north). Conversely, he also notes that singing has also been heard up north (as early as Aug. 31, but most often in Nov.-Dec.). Scientists believe that the whales may begin their singing at their feeding grounds and sing during the migration southward.
The Virginia Marine Science Museum has been continuing its whale watch program off the Virginia Beach coast and has been getting 89% sighting success. Researchers have been seeing up to four whales on each cruise, but suspect they've been resighting a population of eight individual juvenile whales.
Other info:
We received a report from the Hawaiian Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary including press clippings about two whale incidents. In one case, on Feb. 22, a vessel -- America's II (a former America's Cup racing vessel retired into duty as a whale watch boat) -- apparently (and unintentionally) ran over a mother and calf. The National Marine Fisheries Service is investigating. It is unlawful to intentionally approach a humpback whale within 100 yards in Hawaiian waters. [On the east coast we only have guidelines for whalewatching which suggest that boats stay 100 feet from a whale, and that if one boat approaches a whale, others must stay at least 300 feet away.]
Witnesses to the Hawaii incident took pictures, and report that the crew and passengers seemed to be watching a different pod of whales and didn't see the pod they sailed into. The America's II operators believe what happened is that the humpback calf decided to check out the boat and the mother followed in an effort to keep the curious youngster away from the boat.
The second incident happened on March 1 -- the headlines of The Maui News (Mar 2) read: "SICK WHALE NO MATCH FOR HUNGRY SHARKS" According to the paper: "A day that started in triumph for a young humpback whale ended in tragedy Wednesday as it was eaten alive by a pack of tiger sharks before a stunned audience onshore....Officials believe the 30-35 foot, 3-5 year-old whale was the same animal that was freed from a tangle of mooring lines in front of Kihei's Sugar Beach homes earlier in heroic action by Coast Guard divers. The divers cut six lines that had wrapped around the whale's tail and then watched it swim to freedom, some rope still attached. But less than three hours later, officials received a call about a humpback that appeared to be tangled with yellow nylon rope on the reef...."My mom came into the house howling and saying there was a whale out there," said [a Kalama St. resident]. "You could hear it screaming." ....A neighor first thought the whale was giving birth, "but then the blood kept getting worse and worse. It was very scary, very brutal," she said....Greg Kaufman, president of the Pacific Whale Foundation, said the young whale appeared to be emaciated and covered with whale lice, a strong indication it had been sick for some time. [About an hour after the first sighting of the shark attack, the whale died. Two types of rope were found on the carcass. A yellow plastic rope and another type, which appeared to have been on the whale for a while.]
Another Hawaii paper reports that: "Marine enforcement officials are receiving an increasing number of complaints about whale harassment. Many of the perpetrators are kayakers and wind surfers....While thrill crafts are banned from these areas during the season, boats and wind surfers are still allowed to race across the water....Under federal law, vessels are supposed to stay at least 100 yards away from a humpback, but speeding makes stopping difficult when a whale suddenly appears....Some researchers believe humpback whales have made a slight recovery in the last 15 years, increasing from 2,000 to 3,000 in the northern Pacific. But they point out the estimates remain unconfirmed and are still considerably below the 15,000 that once roamed the region. Environmentalists have criticized the state for supporting boating activity rather than preserving a habitat for the humpback whales, especially in Maalaea Bay. The state has backed a plan to expand Maalaea Harbor and allowed moorings to be unregulated at nearby Sugar Beach." [WHERE IN THIS REPORT HAVE WE ALSO SEEN THIS LOCATION MENTIONED?]
Not only has harassment been a problem in Hawaii, but along the California coast too. In an effort to stem this growing tide, undercover Coast Guard agents are boarding boats to monitor the situation.
The Los Angeles Times reports: "This year, for the first time, law enforcement officers posing as passengers are boarding whale-watching boats to document incidents of whale harassment by boaters and jet water- skiers...."There are people out there who seem to think that their purpose in life is to get as close as possible to a whale," said [Coast Guard spokesperson Brandy] Ian. "More and more people want to communicate with them; there have been reports of people actually jumping off their boats and trying to ride a whale. " Harassing a whale or other marine mammal is a crime punishable by a $20,000 fine and up to a year in jail. By placing officers aboard boats, Ian said, the Coast Guard hopes to observe and document violations for later prosecution by the enforcement division of the National Marine Fisheries Service.... The violations, mostly involving private boats and motorized water skis, have ranged from coming too close to the migrating whales (defined as closer than 100 yards) and crossing their paths, to some cases in which whales have actually been scraped by boats." "I've seen situations (in previous years) where boats have run over whales, chopped up their backs and disabled or mortally wounded them," said Dennis Kelly, a marine biologist, at Orange Coast College. Besides the obvious injury caused by such collisions, Kelly said, the harassment of whales can disorient them, causing them to expend more energy and become too exhausted to complete their migrations. It also can separate mother whales from their calves, resulting in the almost certain deaths of the babies.
(This article and the Coast Guard program focus on the gray whales off the California coast. I am hoping to have information from our Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary for you next week on progress in the annual gray whale migration. Stay tuned!)
Until next week -- this is Anne Smrcina signing off from the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.
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