Hello again from the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.
We had a right whale spotted in the Sanctuary yesterday (according to the International Wildlife Coalition's Senior Research Scientist David Wiley), who also reported lots of white-sided dolphins and harbor porpoises. The whale was found at the southwest corner of the Bank, and feeding in an area with depths about 80 feet. (Stellwagen Bank is a shallow, underwater platform that runs between Cape Cod and Cape Ann at the mouth of Massachusetts Bay. Dave also reports that there are a lot of fishing vessels on the Bank this month, including mobile gear trawlers and gill-netters.
The Center for Coastal Studies reports that daily trips into Cape Cod Bay have spotted up to 30 whales per trip (when weather allows) over the past week. This is up 50% since last week's report. They report seeing adults and juveniles, but no calves. As I mentioned last week, the scientists believe a good portion of the population congregates in Cape Cod Bay during March and April before heading up to the Bay of Fundy and other areas off Nova Scotia in the summer.
The Center also reports that several species of Arctic seals have been seen in record numbers along the Cape Cod coast (both within Cape Cod Bay and along the outer shore). They list ring, harp and hooded seals among the visitors arriving -- scientists can't explain why they are showing up in these larger than expected numbers.
The New England Aquarium's Right Whale Research Group in Georgia reports that they will be on station for another week or so. The early warning system surveys have been paying off, according to Chris Slay, the southeastern research coordinator. A mother-calf pair spotted at the mouth of Jupiter Inlet (15 nautical miles north of W. Palm Beach) was given an escort of a Florida Marine Patrol boat which directed large numbers of sport-fishing boats around the whales (the sport-fishing boats were headed to and from the Gulf Stream).
Another whale pair gave every indication that they were following the prescribed script for northward migration -- and then decided to do their own thing. This pair was previously described in a Journey North report. Says Chris: "We tagged a mother with a calf on 2/27/95. The U.S. Coast Guard provided invaluable assistance with one of its 41' cutters. These vessels have proven to be excellent "catcher boats" and the officers operating each of the cutters would have impressed any Norwegian whaler with their prowess. At any rate, we tagged #1254 approximately 9 nautical miles (nm) NE off the St. Johns River entrance channel (Jacksonville). She had been sighted off Ormond Beach on 2/16 and 60nm north, off Jacksonville Beach on 2/24....so naturally we assumed that she was on her way to northern waters when we sighted her offshore of the St. Johns River entrance channel on 2/26 and then tagged her north of there on 2/27.
When we located her using tracking equipment the next day, she was about seven miles SE of where she was tagged. We heard faint signals on 3/2 at the southernmost edge of the survey area but were unable to locate her. However, the next day the Florida Department of Environmental Protection survey crew picked up signals on a survey down the coast and found #1254 at Ponce Inlet (7nm south of Daytona Beach), about 70nm south of the survey area. On 3/7 they located her after picking up signals. She was off Winter Beach, nearly 180nm south of where she was tagged 8 days earlier. ?? ??"
So -- even scientists who've been studying these whales for years can be puzzled by their behaviors. When we start to think that we understand what's going on in nature, nature comes back with some new twists to confuse us.
The N.E. Aquarium report gives a final estimate of 6 new calves this year -- a small number, and one that does not offer a lot of hope for the success of the right whale population.
For those of you interested in plotting the track of a whale, here are some sightings of whale (#0001) and calf (this is a temporary number since the research team has not yet been able to identify her yet):
Date Latitude Longitude 12/24/94 30#161#32.3N 81#161#17.3W 12/29/94 30#161#32.2N 81#161#13.8W 1/2/95 30#161#52.0N 81#161#05.0W 1/7/95 30#161#35.1N 81#161#12.6W 1/10/95 31#161#10.6N 81#161#15.7W 1/12/95 30#161#42.3N 81#161#19.8W 1/13/95 30#161#31.9N 81#161#18.8W calf nursing, very active 1/19/95 30#161#59.1N 81#161#20.3W 1/22/95 30#161#44.0N 81#161#14.6W calf lobtailing 1/27/95 30#161#17.8N 81#161#17.7W calf nursing 1/31/95 30#161#06.0N 81#161#17.7W
The movements for the radio-tagged whale (#1254) and her calf are as follows:
12/5/94 31#161#08.2N 81#161#14.2W (no calf yet) 2/6/95 30#161#53.5N 81#161#19.4W (with calf) 2/24/95 30#161#17.9N 81#161#21.0W 2/26/95 30#161#25.0N 81#161#08.1W much body contact 2/27/95 30#161#31.2N 81#161#15.4W calf lobtailling, mother tagged 2/28/95 30#161#26.4N 81#161#07.2W calf breaching
Before answering last week's CHALLENGE QUESTION about the social behaviors exhibited in Cape Cod Bay, here are some students' ideas:
From MINNESOTA: The whales are going into pairs so they can get to know each other and make bonds. This is our guess, we are curious. Marshall, Grade 5 The Marshall School 0999mars@informns.k12.mn.us
From MINNNESOTA: We think they right whales are acting like they are mating because of a change in weather. Because of the warmer winter, they might think it is late summer.
We also think that they might be practicing for mating.
Third Grade St. Paul Museum Magnet School 0625mms@InforMNs.k12.MN.US
In fact, scientists really don't know what the whales are doing and your guess may be as good as theirs. Researchers report that most calves are born from Dec. through Feb., and that the gestation period could be anywhere from 12 to 16 months (with most believing it's on the shorter end). So if the whales are showing sexual behaviors, they are probably not actually mating (delayed implantation may be a possibility, but this would be much too early in the season). The males may be learning dominance -- or this may just be an activity that they like to engage in.
Northern right whales are presently the world's most endangered great whale. Their future here is clouded -- numbers of calves are small and the threats to their survival are great, including heavy shipping and fishing along the east coast.
On the west coast of North America, there has been a different kind of story. The gray whale (similar in size to the right whale, and like the right, it has no dorsal fin) has gone from extremely low numbers to a somewhat healthy population size. The success has led to the removal of the gray whale from the endangered species list (although it is still considered threatened). An article on the gray whale is being sent out over Journey North under separate heading.
Take a look at the report and see if you can answer this CHALLENGE QUESTION:
HOW DOES THE STORY OF THE GRAY WHALE COMPARE TO THE RIGHT WHALE? WHAT DO THESE WHALES HAVE IN COMMON? HOW DO THEY DIFFER?
Send your answer to: jnorth@informns.k12.mn.us
Until next week, this is Anne Smrcina signing off.
Anne Smrcina Education Coordinator Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary
Journey North 125 North First Street Minneapolis, Minnesota 55401 Phone: (612)339-6959