An endangered species of whale is experiencing a mini-baby boom in New England waters, researchers on Cape Cod have said.
The North Atlantic right whale is one of the rarest species of whale on the planet, numbering only about 411. But the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, Massachusetts, said Friday its aerial survey team spotted two mom and calf pairs in Cape Cod Bay a day earlier. That brings the number seen in New England waters alone this year to three.
That’s big news because the whale’s population has been falling, and no calves were seen last year. In all, seven right whale calves have been seen so far this year.
The whales give birth off Georgia and Florida in the winter and travel to feeding grounds off New England in the early spring, including the Gulf of Maine, a body of water that touches Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and Canada.
Cape Cod Bay is part of the Gulf of Maine and is a critically important feeding ground. The animals often feed close to shore, providing watchers on land “unbeatable views of one of the rarest of marine mammals,” the Center for Coastal Studies said in a statement.
It’s illegal to get within 1,500 feet of the animals without a federal research permit, so boaters are discouraged from attempting to get close to the whales.
Hazzman on April 14th, 2019 at 06:31 UTC »
Japanese scientists are swiftly making their way to the scene in order to vigorously study this new culinary.... uh I mean, scientific anomaly.
NorthernSparrow on April 14th, 2019 at 05:48 UTC »
Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I work on this species and seven calves is still pretty bad. Given the number of adult females, we should be seeing 20-30 calves. Something is very wrong; females should be breeding every 3 years and they clearly aren’t. I mean, seven calves is better than last year’s zero, but it’s below replacement rate and I expect to see the population shrink again this year.
eaux49 on April 14th, 2019 at 02:28 UTC »
And of course, whales rock and baby whales and awesome