8/17/2009

#5: Two Seriously Scarred Whales Show Signs of Previous Entanglements

Part of the work we do at the New England Aquarium is to figure out how frequently right whales get scars from entanglements and vessel strikes. All images of each individual right whale are carefully reviewed to look for subtle and not so subtle evidence of these and to determine the time frame in which the interaction must have occurred. (Click photos to enlarge.)














The findings of this longterm scar coding study are provided to NOAA Fisheries Service (who supports the scar coding work) on a regular basis to help inform their management efforts aimed at reducing the frequency and severity of these events. NOAA Fisheries has implemented numerous measures in U.S. waters over the years for how, when and where fishermen set and configure their fixed fishing gear based on knowledge of right whale distribution and the types of gear found on right whales and other large whale species. For more details about these measures, visit the NOAA Whale Take Reduction Plan.

Over the 6 days at sea so far in the Bay of Fundy, we have seen two animals with severe entanglement scarring. The first animal and the one of most concern to us is Baldy's 2009 calf (Eg # 1240). The pair was seen together on August 9. We were so excited to see that Baldy and her calf had made the long migration from the southeast U.S. calving grounds to the Bay of Fundy. Baldy is one of the older known reproductive females in this population and she has given birth to 8 calves from 1974 to the present. (see our previous post about Baldy's story).

Our excitement upon finding the pair was quickly tempered when we saw major entanglement wounds on the tail stock of the calf--deep cuts into the leading edge of the fluke and peduncle. These are the sort of injuries that make you cringe to think of the pain this calf obviously endured and how hard it must have struggled to break free of the entangling line. The pictures of this calf's wounds speak for themselves, showing gruesome evidence of the problem these animals face. The overall condition of the calf is clearly compromised and its skin towards the aft part of its body looks grey and is peeling significantly, and the tail and body are partially covered by orange cyamids which also can be indicative of poor health.

We are very concerned about the prognosis for this calf. If we see them again this season, we will collect and compare photographs to this initial sighting to see if the calf's condition has changed. Hopefully this little one can survive this ordeal.

The second animal with serious scarring was seen on August 16. Although we have not yet matched it to the catalog, it appears to be a yearling. The tail region has many raw, wrapping scars indicative of a fairly recent entanglement interaction. This animal will likely survive this ordeal but the stress caused by the struggle to break free of the gear and the resulting injuries could be compromising this animals' long term health.

The solution to eliminating or reducing such severe entanglements remains elusive. But we continue to monitor the occurrence of these events, provide this information to the federal government, and constantly work towards finding solutions that will protect the whales and allow fishermen to fish.

Photo Caption:
1-4) A series of pictures showing the the entanglement scars on Baldy's calf.
5-8) Unknown juvenile with entanglement scars on peduncle and leading edge of the fluke.

-Amy


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posted by Amy at 4:49 PM 1 Comments



10/07/2008

#33: Safer Havens for Right Whales in Canadian Waters

Vessel strikes are the leading known cause of right whale mortality from human activities. The shape, behavioural characteristics and habitat preferences of right whales make them especially vulnerable to being struck by vessels. Right whales are difficult for mariners to see, especially in rough seas and at night due to their low profile and dark coloration. Right whales are black, have a broad back and no dorsal fin. They move slowly and they spend extended periods at or near the surface. Typical behavior includes resting at the surface, social activity (i.e. courtship), skim feeding (i.e. swimming slowly near or at the surface as they filter zooplankton from the water), and nursing their young. They appear to not be aware or slow to respond to approaching vessels.

Roseway Basin--a place where right whales feed and socialize in the summer and fall--is located about 30 nautical miles south of Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia and is one of two conservation areas for right whales in Atlantic Canada. The second is located in the Bay of Fundy, a summer and fall nursery area and feeding habitat. The 1993 designation as conservation areas by the Canadian government provided recognition, but no extra protection, to the whales inside the area boundaries. Vessel traffic was not excluded from the areas.

In the Bay of Fundy, a female calf named Calvin provided the impetus to relocate the Bay of Fundy shipping lanes; she was orphaned when her mother died as the result of vessel strike in 1992. In 2002, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted an amendment to the existing shipping lanes. Implemented by Transport Canada in July 2003, the measure directed large vessel traffic around the aggregation of right whales reducing the probability of a vessel/whale interaction by 90 percent.

After the success in the Bay of Fundy, we turned our attention to Roseway Basin, the second summer and fall haunt of right whales. The process to reduce the risk of vessel strikes began with right whale sighting data collected in Canadian waters since the early 1980s (primarily by the New England Aquarium) and data crunching by Bob Kenney at the University of Rhode Island, and Christopher Taggart and Angelia Vanderlaan at Dalhousie University. The analyses of shipping routes and right whale sightings in the area by Dalhousie researchers indicated that, with the declaration of an Area to be Avoided (ATBA), the probability and risk of vessel collisions with right whales could be significantly reduced with minimal disruption to ship routes.

Although the total number of ships that actually transit the area was not known, an estimate was made using ECAREG (Eastern Canada Vessel Traffic Services Zone), ICOADS (International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set) and AMVER (Automated Mutual-Assistance Vessel Rescue System) data sources. Based on these reporting systems, it was been estimated that a minimum of 1,700 ships navigate in and around the area annually and that many of the vessels are bound to or from ports in Halifax Nova Scotia, Saint John New Brunswick, the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, Belgium, Norway and other European destinations and the route used generally reflects the Great Circle route from Europe and the east coast of North America.

In April, 2007, the proposal for an ATBA designation south of Nova Scotia was submitted to the IMO by Transport Canada, and had a great deal of support from Canadian industry (e.g. Irving Oil and Atlantic Pilotage), government agencies (Transport Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Canadian Marine Advisory Council), scientists (National Marine Mammal Peer Review Committee of DFO) and the Canadian Right Whale Recovery Team. Special accolades are due to Lindy Johnson of NOAA (pdf bio) for garnering support from the U.S. delegation to IMO.

In October 2007 the IMO adopted Canada's proposal to designate 980 square nautical miles of Roseway Basin as an ATBA. That means that vessels of 300 gross tons and above will be recommended to steer clear of the area from June 1 to December 31. The measure went into effect on May 1, 2008 and while the area will be recommended rather than mandatory, it was anticipated that the marine community would heed the recommendation and give way to the whales. There is always an option to return to IMO to seek mandatory measures if the recommended ones are not sufficient.

In 2008, the New England Aquarium and Canadian Whale Institute once again in collaboration with our colleagues at Dalhousie University initiated a marine stewardship recognition program for the Roseway Basin ATBA. Dalhousie scientists are monitoring, in near real time, vessel traffic in the vicinity of Roseway Basin to measure compliance with the ATBA through their Vessel Avoidance and Conservation Area Transit Experiment (VACATE). They are using Automatic Identification System (AIS) technology that transmits static, dynamic, and voyage related information including vessel position, speed, heading, destination, and vessel type. The VHF radio transmissions are received using a Bell-Aliant cell tower and antenna located near Cape Sable Island. Dalhousie scientists are using the AIS data to determine the routes of vessels in the Roseway Basin area, as well as calculating the additional mile and time cost for those vessels that avoid the ATBA in comparison to a standardized trip through the ATBA for each vessel. The same can be done for vessels that continue to transit the ATBA by providing alternative routing and associated cost. Although the ATBA is a recommended (i.e. voluntary) measure, the computer monitoring of vessel routes provides information on those vessels that are avoiding the area and thus provide a measure of compliance as well as those that are not and may not yet be aware of the IMO recommendation to avoid the area.

In the first month of implementation, preliminary analyses conducted by Dalhousie researchers found that about 70 percent of the vessels avoided the Roseway Basin ATBA. Researchers have also detected that some vessels that passed through the ATBA on one leg of their voyage avoided the area on their return trip. Seventy percent compliance in the first three months is a very good response from the maritime industry for this new measure. In these early stages, non-compliance is likely an issue of awareness of the new ATBA. Information placards like Caution Mariners are being distributed to mariners in Atlantic Canadian ports through port authorities, shipping agents,and harbor pilots to increase awareness of the implementation of these conservation measures.

The 2008 implementation of the IMO sanctioned Roseway Basin ATBA and the 2003 amendment to the IMO mandated Bay of Fundy shipping lanes are two examples of how New England Aquarium researchers and their collaborators are working with corporations and government to not only develop, but more importantly implement, conservation measures for right whales and monitor mariner compliance. These actions will promote recovery of right whales and last well beyond our lifetimes. What does this mean for right whales in Canadian waters? It means that the calves, like Calvin's first calf born in Florida waters in 2005, will have a safer haven in the Bay of Fundy in which to fatten and grow. And on Roseway Basin adult right whales will have a safer place to engage in the activities that result in more calves. Thank you to our partners in right whale recovery!

- Moira W. Brown

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posted by NEAQ at 1:19 PM 1 Comments



9/27/2008

#31: Three Days In A Row!

Thanks to an extended good-weather window, we were able to get out on the water three days in a row- Sept. 23-25! Although working three 14 hour days in a row was exhausting, the data collected made it well worth it. We sighted more than 40 whales each day we were out.

We are now processing the data collected and identifying the whales we photographed in the bay these past few days. As of right now, we have identified over a dozen whales that were seen for the first time this season. Some of the whales have not been seen since 2006.

Many of the whales we saw were engaging in Surface Active Groups (SAG). On both Sept. 23 & 24, we came across SAGs comprised of more than a dozen right whales! With the exception of Meridian (Eg #1403) most of the whales in one SAG were not in the other.

There are currently a lot of right whales in the Bay of Fundy (more than 130 identified so far). The past three days allowed us to document that, but we know there are more whales in the bay that we have yet to photograph - some we have seen in the distance but have no photographs to prove it. This is frustrating given that the remnants of hurricane Kyle are at our doorstep and coming in without an invitation. We are all hoping that Kyle's rain and strong winds will be short lived and we will be able to get a few more days on the water before our season ends in early October.


Video of a 12 animal SAG on Sept. 24th. The whale with the wrapping entanglement scar around its head is Meridian.

Jonathan

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posted by Jonathan at 4:23 PM 0 Comments



9/07/2008

#24: Intromission in the Bay

We were able to get on the water on Friday, Sept. 5, before the effects of hurricane Hanna reached the Bay of Fundy. It was the first time we had been on the water in a week and it was well worth the wait! We spent two hours of our day photographing a Social Active Group (SAG) of about 20 whales! It was truly one of the most incredible sights I have ever seen!

From over a mile away, we spotted a few whales rolling at the surface of the water causing a lot of commotion. As we headed toward the whales, our approach was accompanied by 6 other whales all traveling in sync with one another. They raced towards the forming SAG, all breathing and diving in unison. We arrived to find that the SAG now included 20 whales! The amount of activity there was astonishing. The whales were all cavorting around the focal female, caressing her with their flippers, and rolling and lobtailing as they jostled each other to get closer to her. More then once a penis was observed and we even witnessed intromission! All this was accompanied by the potent smell of whale defecation.

The whale watcher, Marylin Marx, quickly identified the focal female as Sonnet (Eg #1123), a mother this year, and found her calf mingling in the aggregation. All other whales that were identified were males, Meridian (Eg #1403), Gemini (Eg #1150), Glidden (Eg #1428), and Manta (Eg #1507) to name a few. You can find photos and sighting history for each of these whales in the North Atlantic Right Whale Catalog.

Social aggregations of this size have only been seen in Roseway Basin (South of Nova Scotia) and the Bay of Fundy.



Jonathan

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posted by Jonathan at 1:23 PM 4 Comments



8/11/2008

#11: Surface Active Group Video



This is a video of a Surface Active Group (SAG) of North Atlantic Right Whales in the Bay of Fundy. Stay tuned for more information about right whale behaviors!

Jonathan

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posted by Jonathan at 6:31 PM 7 Comments



8/10/2008

#10: "Resolution" in the Bay

This morning was another quiet one as the fog rolled in from the Bay of Fundy to form a solid gray blanket over the town of Lubec, Maine. This kind of weather sure makes getting up at 5:00 a.m. difficult, but with two days on land we were all itching to get back to sea. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate, so again we find ourselves on land.

However, the days on land give us the opportunity to get to work on processing all the data we've collected. From the two and a half days we've worked in the Bay of Fundy we already have over 1300 photographs of right whales to process! The processing will take many hours because each image can hold a wealth of information and must be carefully reviewed for its content. Not only can we discover the whale's individual identification from a photograph, but also it's behavior, association with other whales, the overall body condition, the presence of new scars or wounds from human impact and much, much more. As our blog continues we hope to touch upon some of these topics in greater detail, so please stay tuned!

As we begin to process images we start to recognize or identify more and more whales. While working out on the water we often get just a few quick glimpses of a whale before it dives, so although some whales are recognized on the spot others may not be identified until the data processing phase begins. However, whether it happens on the boat or days later when looking at an image on a computer screen, it's always exciting when we identify a whale. It's often like bumping into an old friend on the street or in the grocery store.

Seeing a particular individual often conjures up memories. For instance, seeing a whale might make me remember the first time I photographed a right whale, or my first day working in the Bay of Fundy. I can remember the whale I first identified from the air (while conducting aerial surveys for right whales in their winter calving ground of the southeastern U.S.) and I can remember the first whale I matched to the North Atlantic Right Whale Catalog. So when I heard that the right whale named "Resolution" was photographed on our first day working in the Bay of Fundy this summer (August 6th), I was very excited. Why am I so excited about Resolution? Because I saw him being born! Not only that, but it was the first documented North Atlantic right whale birth!



Photograph taken by Jessica Taylor of Resolution swimming next to his mother (Catspaw) moments after the birthing event on New Years Day, 2005.

Resolution (#3532) was born off the coast of Florida on January 1, 2005. On that New Year's Day morning over three years ago, I was an observer aboard a New England Aquarium aerial survey plane (from December through March we conduct aerial surveys for right whales on the calving ground off the southeast U.S.). When we first sighted his mom, Catspaw (#1632), thrashing at the surface of the water with a large amount of blood surrounding her, we thought she was badly injured. I had no idea I was about to be part of a team who would be the first and only four people to document a right whale birth! It took us a few minutes to realize what we were seeing...truth be told it was not until the small calf appeared at the surface that we realized what had just happened. Catspaw lifted the small calf to the surface with her body and soon the pair began to swim side-by-side and the remaining blood in the water dissipated. If we had arrived on the scene moments later we never would have known what had just occurred. And in case you haven't guessed it yet, he was named for a New Year's resolution.

It's exciting to know that both Resolution and Catspaw, are in the Bay of Fundy this summer, and that Catspaw is a mom again this year (healthy right whales can have a single calf every three years). Unfortunately, I was not on the water on the 6th of August (the team's first day on the water) so I missed seeing Resolution in person. But just hearing that he is in the Bay of Fundy makes me even more eager to get back out on the water so I can see him for myself!


Resolution in the Bay of Fundy on August 6, 2008. Photo taken from the research vessel Nereid by Jonathan Cunha.



-Monica


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posted by Monica at 9:10 PM 3 Comments



8/08/2008

#9: Tides

After another two days out in the Bay of Fundy, we are all thoroughly exhausted! Thursday shaped up to be another amazing day full of right whales. Many of these whales we had seen on the previous day, but we documented the presence of a few whales that we had not seen before. Within two days, we documented at least 53 right whales in the Bay of Fundy. Not bad for two days of work!


Today (Friday), we woke up bright and early and headed out into the Bay expecting to have yet another whale-filled day. After fueling the boat, we decided to head north, around the northern point of Campobello Island (known as East Quoddy Head). During the past two days on the water we continued to see whales to the east of us that we didn't have time to get to. In an attempt to find the eastern-most whales, we began our search for right whales by heading south-east. We soon found one right whale, who declared her presence by breaching. As we approached the whale started to "log." Logging is a resting behavior that is frequently seen and we describe it as "lying still at the surface of the water." From a distance, a resting whale can look like a log in the water, hence the term "logging."


Along with the callosity, this whale was identified as #2791 in the North Atlantic Right Whale Catalog by a distinctive scar on her flukes. She is a female who last calved in 2006. As we resumed heading to the southeast, the seas slowly began building and we started to see lots of white caps. The wind was light, but coming from the northwest and the tide had started coming in. In the Bay of Fundy, having even a light breeze against the powerful tide can ruin your day!

The Bay of Fundy has the highest vertical tidal range in the world. This dynamic body of water sitting between Canada's New Brunswick and Nova Scotia can rise, at high tide, to just over 50 feet. Approximately 115 billion tons of water flood in and out of the Bay during each tide cycle. While folklore claims that these tides are caused by a giant whale splashing water into the Bay, oceanographers have another explanation. The tide of the ocean at the mouth of the funnel shaped Bay of Fundy creates a wave of water the builds as it travels up the Bay. Other factors such as storms, atmospheric pressure and position of the moon can influence the height of the Fundy tide. Unfortunately we decided that this wind vs. tide effect would cause the sea to be too rough to find and photograph right whales and so we turned towards home early today.

- Cyndi

Top photo taken by Bob Bowman. The research vessel Nereid heading for home as Monica and Jon stand on the bow searching for marine life and debris to record.

Lower photo taken by Marilyn. the distinctive flukes of right whale # 2791.

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posted by Cyndi at 5:30 PM 4 Comments



8/07/2008

#7: Our first day out, finally!

Yesterday was our first day on the water, and it was great! Because it takes us about 2 hours to get from Lubec to our survey area in the Bay of Fundy, we left the dock aboard our research vessel Nereid at 6:15 a.m. The crew consisted of Amy, Philip, Marilyn, Cyndi, Yan, Jonathan and two guests: Bill and Claudia. The weather was fine--winds were light and sky partly cloudy. By 9:15 we had found our first whales and the hours flew by as we worked one after another. By "worked" I mean we gathered all the information possible for each whale--the time of its sighting and its location (latitude and longitude), photographs of the head (for the callosity pattern) and the body and flukes (for any scars or marks), behaviors, and associations (whether it was alone or with other whales).

It was good to be back on the water, and we all fell into the various jobs without too much trouble. We took turns photographing, driving and recording the data. One person is the designated "whalewatcher" and that person has to let the rest of us know which whale we're photographing, whether it's a new whale for the day or not, and what information we need from it. It's actually just about the toughest job on the boat--a lot of pressure and no breaks! Yesterday, Philip was whalewatcher, and, as always, he knew many of the whales on sight.

In the eight hours we were on the Bay, we photographed 36 individuals, including four mothers with calves! We also saw three calves without their mothers, but that's not unusual for this time of year in the Bay of Fundy. Calves are getting older and a bit more independent, so although they're still nursing, they may go off exploring on their own for hours at a time while mom is feeding. They reunite when one calls for the other.

The highlights of the day were the curious approaches from three different calves. Just like other baby mammals, right whale calves are curious about their surroundings, and it's not unusual to see a calf lifting seaweed onto its head or playing with a log. Sometimes it's the boat that interests calves and they have been known to spend many minutes swimming underneath and all around our boat, looking at it (and us?) from all angles.


After many hours on the water we finally began heading in at 5:00 returning to the dock at 7p.m., nearly 13 hours after we left! But our day wasn't finished yet. After a quick dinner (thanks, Monica!), we still had to process the data (all the information we entered into the computer for each sighting), upload images from the digital cameras (more than 700!), wipe down the equipment (salt air is tough on electronics), and prepare for the next trip out. Exhausted, none of us had any trouble getting to sleep.

Marilyn

First image caption: Hard at work: Marilyn recording data, Jon checking his photos, Philip ready for the next whale. Photo taken by Claudia

Second image caption: One of the curious calves.

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posted by Marilyn at 4:12 PM 4 Comments



8/04/2008

#3: Still in fog!!

We have been here for 4 or 5 days now and the weather has been uncooperative. First thick fog, then rain, then rain and fog. We need good visibility to find the whales and dry conditions and relatively calm seas to use the equipment we need to work (cameras, video, computers).

So we have been spending our time setting up the office, reviewing research protocols, and remembering how to live co-operatively in a large house with 10 to 15 people. Although there is plenty to do to set up and plenty more to do to process back-logged data, we are all growing antsy--a feeling which is magnified by the knowledge that right whales have been seen in the Bay of Fundy.

Laurie Murison, our colleague from the Grand Manan Whale and Research Station, made several trips into the Bay before the weather turned bad and reported 20 to 30 right whales. Knowing of our particular interest in mothers with calves of the year, she forwarded some excellent photographs she took. Low and behold, she had documented a new mother for the year! Most of the mothers and calves are first seen off the coast of the southeast U.S., but a few are first seen further north. This whale, #3115, is a 7-year-old female that gave birth to her first calf this year.










Photo of #3115 from Laurie Murison's July 28th sighting in the Bay of Fundy.
See more pictures and sighting history on the North Atlantic Right Whale Catalog web site.

This brings the calf total for the year up to at least 21. The weather does not look good for the next few days (in fact, we just had torrential rains and lightening that knocked out the power twice), but we will keep our fingers crossed for a change so we can see some of these youngsters for ourselves.

And for those of you in the sweltering summer heat, you may be surprised to hear that it is cold in Lubec. All of us already bundled in our sweaters and wondering if it is too early to turn on the heat!

-Philip

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posted by Philip at 9:08 AM 0 Comments



8/02/2008

#2: Fogged In


Weather conditions have not improved. We are all fogged up!! You can see how bad the visibility is by comparing the above image of the Nereid to the image taken yesterday from the same spot. The bridge is disappearing!

- Jonathan

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posted by Jonathan at 1:34 PM 0 Comments