Hi from the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary:
Not too much to report this week. No reports from Silver Bank -- unfortunately, there are very few groups doing research down there -- and because of the distance from shore, there are no regular patrols or whale watch cruises.
Greg Stone, Associate Director and Conservation Officer of the New England Aquarium, reports on upcoming work in Bermuda. Over the past few years they have been studying humpbacks that visit Bermuda, usually in the mid-March through April time period. They believe that the entire western North Atlantic population of humpbacks passes this way on its northward migration. It is only after the whales pass Bermuda that they split into their individual northern feeding populations (Gulf of Maine, Bay of Fundy, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Labrador and Newfoundland, Greenland and Iceland). The whales do not pass Bermuda on their way down to Silver Bank -- but scientists are unsure of the autumn track. The whales have not yet gotten to Bermuda -- but we'll keep you posted.
FOR YOUR INFORMATION This from the 1994 Annual Report of the Marine Mammal Commission:
"At least two stocks of humpback whales are thought to exist in the North Atlantic Ocean -- an eastern and a western stock [Journey North is looking at the western stock].
There is no population estimate for the eastern stock [the western stock is estimated at about 5,500 animals] and the location of its winter calving grounds is uncertain. Based on historical whaling records, it may winter off the northwest coast of Africa and the Cape Verde Islands. Its summer feeding ground appears to be west and north of Norway in the Norwegian Sea."
EXTRA CREDIT A report on the gray whale is being sent out as a separate E-mail message. Take a look at that report and see where the humpback and the gray whale show similarities and differences. In gray whale report notes that: "There is evidence to suggest that some whales are not making the full migration, staying for long periods or even year-round at some localities along the coast. Whether this is due to the increase in numbers, or has always been true, is not known." WHERE HAVE WE SEEN THIS THOUGHT BEFORE?
WHAT ARE THE GRAY WHALE'S ONLY "ENEMIES"? How does this compare to the humpback and what's been reported to date here?
HOW DO SCIENTISTS IDENTIFY GRAY WHALES? How is this similar or different with humpback identification studies?
For some additional information on gray whales, reported from the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, see this week's right whale report.
Enjoy the week. I'll be back! Anne Smrcina Education Coordinator Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary