To: Journey North
From: Anne Smrcina,Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary

Greetings from the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary-- It's great to be back with Journey North this year reporting on right whales along the East Coast. The Sanctuary has been busy this past year, working with a number of organizations in the development of right whale protection programs. I'll be covering these programs over the course of the next few weeks.

For this first right whale report, I'd like to give a bit of background information and fill you in on the present status of these whales.

Northern right whales are probably the most endangered of the great whales -- their population now stands at about 300 individuals. These 50-foot long mammals were hunted nearly to extinction over many years -- beginning many centuries ago. They are large, slow-moving, carry large blubber supplies and live relatively near the coast, making them the "right" whale to hunt, first by the coastal whalers and then by ocean-going shipboard whalers. When international protection was established for the species (in 1935) there were very few left in the world. (There is a southern population of right whales, but because their breeding cycles are half a year off from the northern whales and because the two groups never mix, they are classified as two different species.)

From scientific studies of right whale DNA (taken from skin and blubber samples), scientists believe that the entire population of northern right whales may descend from three related groups of females (or possibly as few as three individual females). One question being raised now related to what looks to be a slow recovery of the species is the genetic health of the population. With such restricted genetic diversity, the species may not be reproducing as quickly as possible, or having genetically healthy young.

Another possible cause of the slow recovery of this species is its interactions with humans. Right whales frequent coastal waters that are heavily used by boaters, shipping companies, the fishing industry, and the military. Many of the whale deaths recorded in the past few years have been directly attributed to ship strikes. A collision between a large ship and a right whale will probably lead to the death of the whale (very often the shipboard personnel will not even know that they struck a whale). Smaller ship/whale collisions may result in damage to the ship, but also serious injury or death to the whale. Some whales survive ship collisions but show the dramatic scars of their encounters, especially if the propellors slice into their skin.

Fishing gear, especially gill nets and suspended lines have also been shown to be an entanglement threat to whales. Many right whales, the figure is something like 57%, show entanglement scars on their bodies.

The 300 or so right whales now found along the east coast of the United States have certain "home bases" for particular times of the year. Pregnant females head down to the Florida/Georgia coastline where they deliver their calves -- this is the only known calving ground for the species. Cape Cod Bay and Stellwagen Bank attract whales during the February through April time period (although over the course of the past 20 years, right whales have been seen in these waters in almost every month, but often just one or two at a time). April and May see the whales moving out into the Great South Channel between Cape Cod and Georges Bank. Later on in the summer and early fall, right whales head up to Canadian waters (Bay of Fundy, Browns Bank) for feeding and breeding.

Right whales have been sighted in Cape Cod Bay this month by scientists from the Center for Coastal Studies (Provincetown, Mass.), some of which have been surface feeding, some feeding in deeper waters, and some involved in social behaviors (nuzzling, bumping, rubbing against each other). Laurie Goldman, one of the Center's right whale team, reports that up to 20 whales have been seen on a day's trip (although on some days weather and water conditions have made it impossible to see any whales).

Challenge Question #1
"What factors would make right whale spotting difficult even for experienced cetacean scientists?"

To respond to this Challenge Question, please follow the instructions at the end of this report.

Coordinates for two concentrations of whales for Feb. 8 were:

Latitude	Longitude
41 57.0 N	70 10.0 W
41 53.0 N	70 10.0 W
41 53.0 N	70 07.0 W
41 57.0 N	70 07.0 W

Latitude	Longitude
41 52.0 N	70 16.5 W
41 49.0 N	70 16.5 W
41 49.0 N	70 13.5 W
41 52.0 N	70 13.5 W

Down in the calving grounds, the New England Aquarium, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the states of Florida and Georgia have implemented a right whale aerial survey program that alerts boats to the presence of right whales (and identifies new mothers and calves). The latest report from down south comes from Chris Slay and Lisa Conger of the New England Aquarium's right whale research group. According to Chris, "It never ceases to amaze me how important this little piece (Georgia/Florida coastline) of watery real estate is to what remains of the northern right whale population. Along this short stretch of coast we're seeing almost all the new blood this small tribe will add to its numbers this year....so far twelve animals. Bathymetry, temperature, sea conditions -- the combination must be just right. Whatever it is, it's gravy for the right whale with a newborn. Since January 12th we've had 44 right whale sightings. Forty of those involved mother/calf pairs.

Challenge Question #2
"What might be the favorable type of bathymetry, temperature and sea conditions that Chris Slay mentions?"

To respond to this Challenge Question, please follow the instructions at the end of this report.

Chris also reports on the effectiveness of the program. On January 31st the plane spotter saw a container ship heading inbound to Jacksonville, Florida on a collision course with a mother/calf pair. The plane called the vessel on channel 16 (the hailing channel). The ship responded and switched and switched to channel 10 through which the right whale team warned them about the possible interaction. The boat crew responded and said they would go to starboard to give the whales a wide berth. Says Chris, "This is encouraging. It seems obvious that the ship's crew immediately understood the nature of the radio call. They had probably been educated by the Jacksonville pilots about the presence of whales reported earlier in the day. This is the essence of the Early Warning System."

Some positions of whales spotted on February 5th were: mother/calf pair 30 33.4N, 81 24.2W mother/calf pair 30 31.7N, 81 19.5W mother/calf pair 30 56.6N, 81 16.6W

That's all for this week. This is Anne Smrcina from the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary signing off.

IMPORTANT:
Please do NOT answer both Challenge Questions in one message!

How to respond to Challenge Question #1:

1. Address an E-mail message to: jn-challenge-rwhale@learner.org
2. In the Subject Line of your message write: Challenge Question #1
3. In the body of the message, answer Challenge Question #1

"What factors would make right whale spotting difficult even for experienced cetacean scientists?"

How to Respond to Challenge Question #2

1. Address an E-mail message to: jn-challenge-rwhale@learner.org
2. In the Subject Line of your message write: Challenge Question #2
3. In the body of the message, answer Challenge Question #2

"What might be the favorable type of bathymetry, temperature and sea conditions that Chris Slay mentions?"

Today's report is posted on Journey North's WWW site at:
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/1997/critters/rwhale/855152090.html

The Next Right Whale Migration Update Will be Posted on February 19, 1997.