![]() This declaration allows the agency to more easily focus resources on preventing more serious injuries or deaths. This triggered the declaration of an unusual mortality event, which is ongoing. Evidence pointed to vessel strikes and entanglement as the primary causes. In 2017, a spate of right whale deaths occurred in the United States and Canada. The rules address the top two threats to their recovery: entanglement in fishing gear and collisions with vessels. ![]() There are a number of seasonal and year-round rules in place to protect these endangered animals. The whales tend to follow their food and are moving to different foraging locations around the region as the season progresses. Northeast Fisheries Science Center, New England Aquarium, the Center for Coastal Studies, and others jointly monitor the waters off New England for right whales. Data are preliminary and subject to change, and few or no observations may reflect level of effort rather than whale presence or absence.Credit:WhaleMap It shows where 730 sighting events and 183 acoustic detections occurred, some with more than one whale included and some that are resightings of an individual. We try to determine where the rest of the population is and have found them so far this year in large numbers on Nantucket Shoals south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, and in Cape Cod Bay.”Ĭonfirmed North Atlantic right whales off Massachusetts and Rhode Island seen on survey flights or recorded by passive acoustic detectors, January 1-April 4, 2021. “A very small portion of the right whale population heads south to the waters off northern Florida and Georgia in the winter-mostly just the moms-to give birth,“ said Tim Cole, a marine mammal researcher and lead of the center’s aerial whale survey team. What gives? To find out, we track when and where these whales are found throughout the year, using sighting surveys and passive acoustic listening devices. In recent years, the right whales appear to be staying in these waters in greater numbers and for longer periods than in the past. Right whale use of areas south and west of Nantucket Shoals has been documented in just the last 10 years. Right whales have typically appeared in Cape Cod Bay during spring, but in recent years have been arriving sooner and staying longer. Three mother/calf pairs have been sighted there to date. They were seen by scientists from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center flying a sighting survey. Just a few days later, on March 30, scientists spotted 57 North Atlantic right whales off Southeast New England in and around the wind energy development areas. On March 21, 2021, 89 North Atlantic right whales were spotted by scientists from the Center for Coastal Studies in Cape Cod Bay.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |