Hello again from the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary --
This week's message is again going to be somewhat short -- many of my contacts in the field are away at conferences, meetings and research projects in the field this week and reports have been sketchy.
We believe the humpbacks are now leaving the Silver Bank area on the start of their northward migration. Greg Stone, an associate director at the New England Aquarium and head of their Conservation Department, and Phil Hamilton of the Aquarium's right whale research group left today for Bermuda. Greg and other humpback whale researchers are hoping to do some photographic identification and migration tracking studies over the next few weeks from this island location. It seems that humpbacks pass by Bermuda on the northward migration but don't show up there (Bermuda) in the fall.
I asked a question about humpback movements across Silver Bank (generally east to west movement) a few weeks ago. Did anyone come up with any answers as to why the whales were moving this way? Some researchers believe the humpbacks take a big swing out into the Atlantic Ocean on their southward migration and then swing in to Silver Bank from the east. For their northward migration, the whales (according to these scientists) take a more direct route north -- which would take them right past Bermuda. We believe the whales have been around Bermuda over the past week or two, but we should get a better report in the next few days.
Greg and Phil would like to do some radio-tagging of the whales as they pass Bermuda -- but they've come up against a legal snag. It seems that crossbows are outlawed in Bermuda, and crossbows are the way the researchers apply the tag. They're trying to get the law changed this week (or some sort of waiver) to allow them to continue with these tracking studies. By the way, use of these crossbows and radio-tags does not seem to hurt the whales, according to the researchers. The tag hooks into the skin and top layer of blubber -- most whales don't even flinch when tagged.
The Virginia Marine Science Museum reports that they have continued to run their whale watch operations throughout the month of March because the whales seem to be sticking around. Over the past two weeks they have seen up to eight humpbacks at a time, although this was earlier in the month. Up until this last Sunday they saw at least one whale on each trip, but Sunday's trip came up whale-less (even though they had perfect weather for spotting whales). Perhaps the whales have finally decided to move on.
No humpback whales have been spotted yet up north in Massachusetts and Cape Cod Bays or Stellwagen Bank, although a minke whale was spotted last week in Cape Cod Bay as well as many right whales. Hopefully we'll be seeing the humpbacks soon. The whale watch operations are gearing up for a mid-April start-up.
That's all for now. See you next week.
Anne Smrcina, Education Coordinator Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary
Journey North 125 North First Street Minneapolis, Minnesota 55401 Phone: (612)339-6959