In addition to North Atlantic right whales, we were lucky to see several other species of marine mammals, fish and birds during our trip to Roseway Basin. Following is a short list of some of the different species of animals seen:
Fin whale, Sei whale, Humpback whale, Minke whale, Pilot whale, Killer whale, Common dolphin, White-sided dolphin, Harbour porpoise, Mola-mola (Sunfish), Basking shark, Blue shark, Tuna, Northern Gannet, Greater shearwater, Wilson storm petrel, Leech's storm petrel, Northern fulmar, Pomerine jaeger, Parasitic jaeger, Black backed gull, Herring gull, Atlantic puffin, Phalaropes.
From left: mola mola (sunfish) and common dolphin
Here's a slideshow of more images:
Check out a similar slide show from this season's Aerial survey blog here.
Great news! Calvin, #2223, one of the most famous right whales in the population, has returned to the Bay of Fundy. We sighted her on Sept 2 with her calf of the year by her side. This was her first sighting in northern waters since giving birth on the southeast U.S. calving ground early this year.
For those of you who don't know her story, Calvin was born in 1992 and it was during her first summer in the Bay of Fundy that her mother, Delilah, was killed by a shipstrike, leaving Calvin an orphan. We didn't think Calvin would survive without her mother, but amazingly she did. She was named (before her sex was known) after the character in the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes.
Like that little boy, Calvin the right whale showed resourcefulness and a surprisingly independent nature. Since then we've watched her grow up and have followed her exploits in the various habitats in which she's been sighted. In 2000, she became entangled in fishing gear but luckily was disentangled by the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies in 2001. She still bears the scars on her head, body and peduncle from that experience. And in 2005 Calvin became a mother for the first time and brought her calf to the Bay of Fundy, just as her mother had done 13 years earlier.
Over the years Calvin's story has been used to illustrate the troubling issue of ship strikes--they are the leading cause of right whale mortality--and to help move the shipping lanes in the Bay of Fundy so they no longer cut through the main concentration of whales.
You can read more about Calvin and her namesake student scientists, The Calvineers, in the 2008 blog. Calvin is also one of our sponsorship whales, so if you'd like to follow her in the future you can sponsor her or visit the Catalog website. Marilyn
On September 4th, a few members from our team set off to Nova Scotia to survey Roseway BasinArea to be Avoided for 10 days. The team saw over 60 right whales and a bunch of other marine mammal species.
Here are some pictures from their trip.
Stay tuned for more on the Roseway trip, including video!
During a recent trip out to sea, one of the whales we sighted for the first time this season was #3530, a whale we named "Ruffian" back in February of 2008. This sighting was a very exciting one for us because Ruffian had been horribly wounded by an entanglement in some kind of fishing gear prior to January 2008, and though he was no longer entangled, we did not expect him to survive due to the extensive injuries he had sustained. (See all of Ruffian's sightings by searching for #3530 on the North Atlantic Right Whale Catalog.)
He was sighted a few times after that, but the last shipboard photos were taken in April 2008 by the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies (PCCS), and at that time he still looked terrible. But last Friday we got our first really good look at him in more than a year and we were thrilled with what we saw: his many wounds had healed, leaving only a few white scars on his back, head and tail. Although we don't know his age, Ruffian (named for his "roughed-up" appearance) is a young whale and that was probably the leading reason for his remarkable recovery. Young mammals in general have an enhanced ability to heal compared to older animals.
Entanglement in fishing gear is still one of the biggest threats facing right whales. Nearly 75% of the whales in this beleagured population carry entanglement scars, and we know that at least 20-30 right whales have died or been fatally wounded from entanglements. We are grateful that Ruffian is one of the lucky ones...
Well, it turned out that what we discovered in our last blog entry was just the tip of the iceberg! We went out to sea on Thursday with the wind blowing and the forecast for the winds to remain strong all day. We were going on gut instinct (and a big dose of hope) that it would be better than forecasted and were right! We had good conditions and found a large group of right whales east of South Wolf Island- 20 miles north of where we usually see them. And one of the pressing questions of this season (Where are all the mothers and calves?) was answered! We had 7 calves in one day and most of the mothers had not been seen yet this season.
Another one of the questions may have been answered as well. I wrote about the whale Tips in post #7 and wondered why we see him only once a season when he comes to the Bay of Fundy. Well ... Tips has been seen repeatedly off East Quoddy light on Campobello, New Brunswick for the last week. One of the whale watch boat captains says he has the latitude and longitude written down and goes there daily to see him. It is rare for a right whale to show such specific site fidelity. Maybe Tips really likes this northern area and has been spending his summers in this area where we rarely survey.
But as each question is answered, new ones come up. Why are many of the whales so far north? The last time many right whales were this far north during the summer was back in 1980 and 1981--nearly 30 years ago! It almost certainly has to do with the distribution of food, but we are not equipped aboard the R/V Nereid to do the necessary oceanographic sampling to determine what has changed.
On Friday, we had an unusually broad picture of right whale distributions. We had 40 right whales in this northern area, the R/V Callisto had another 20 whales in the middle of the Grand Manan Basin, a whale watch boat had 15 right whales to the west near Grand Manan Island, and our research team on Roseway Basin south of Nova Scotia had 20 whales there--nearly 100 whales in a single day!
Stay tuned to see how this distribution changes, if at all, over the coming weeks...
Last night, dinner was small and quiet; the reason is because half our team has gone! Yesterday morning at 4:30 a.m. half the team woke up and drove to Bar Harbor, Maine where they then caught a ferry to Nova Scotia. Once in Nova Scotia the team met up with the captain of the boat that has been chartered to conduct surveys out on Roseway Basin. Roseway Basin, an area located approximately 25 to 30 miles south of Nova Scotia. Roseway Basin is an important summer right whale habitat and we were fortunate enough to have funding this year to conduct surveys of the area for a short period of time over the summer. While the Roseway team is offshore, without Internet access, we will be able to update you with some ongoing news from Roseway Basin since we will have daily communication with them via satellite phone.
In the mean time with half the team gone and a thick blanket of fog cast over most of the Bay of Fundy the remaining team took advantage of aquiet house to catch up on some work. However, with the extended forecast not looking favorable for the next few days we all were starting to feel a little frustrated. However, just after lunch the house received a call from a friend who owns a local whale watch boat. "Right whales just off White Horse Island" I heard Philip say.
It was with excitement that we jumped at the chance to get on the water. The whales were only about half an hour from our dock which sure beat our typical two hour commute to work whales each day. We joked about how nice it was to be heading down to the boat at 12:30 p.m. instead of our typical 5:30 a.m. departures. We quickly arrived on site and chatted with a few local whale watch and recreational boats that were also very excited to see right whales so close.
Many of the whale watch boats that operate locally don't venture far offshore into the Bay of Fundy and typically sight many minke and fin whales so it was a great treat for them also to have right whales within their vessel's range.
We ended up documenting a mom/calf pair (Catalog #2791 and her calf) and a single whale a bit further to the east ("Tips" Catalog#1124). You can search for more sighting data and photos of these individuals on the North Atlantic Right Whale Catalog. Amy chatted on the radio to the whale watch boats about the IDs of the whales while I recorded data and Philip and Candace photographed from the Nereid's bow.
Today we sit in again in the fog and wind, with the forecast remaining much the same for the next few days. A few of us are holding onto a small amount of hope that tomorrow could turn out to be a day on the water while others just find some comfort in the fact that we got on the water yesterday even if for a short amount of time.
On Thursday, two reporters from the Bangor Daily News accompanied us on our survey of the Bay. Their story, photographs and footage captures what a day is like for researchers in the Bay of Fundy.
We are all in the house processing this season's data as Hurricane Bill approaches from the south. Luckily the forecast of 45-55 knots (52 to 63 mph) has diminished to 30-40 knots for Sunday. Still no weather to be at sea, but less dangerous for our boat in the harbor. Meanwhile, we will all settle in and match whales.
We have identified 57 whales so far and there are some interesting stories among them. There are a number of big, old males here and one of them, "Tips" (Eg #1124 in the North Atlantic Right Whale Catalog), has a particularly unusual sighting history. Seen most years from 1980 to 1991, he disappeared for nine years before being re-sighted off Massachusetts in 2000. He hadn't been seen in the Bay of Fundy for 16 years until he visited in 2007. Now, he seems to come in for a single day each year and then moving on. We will be curious to see if that pattern continues this year; I suspect we will not see him again until next August.
Another interesting story this year involves the mothers and their calves. With the record calving of 39 calves this year, we expect to see a lot of mother/calf pairs in the Bay this season. We did see seven of them early in the season, but have only seen two in the last 11 days (the most recent unusually close to Grand Manan island).
While it is not uncommon for the mother/calf pairs to be somewhat segregated from other whales, it is unusual not to see them at all! Are they still here but not in the broad box that we survey? Have they moved on to another area? And, with the exception of the mothers, why are all but three of the adult whales in the Bay big males? With a few days of bad weather ahead of us, it will be a while before we can continue our surveys and collect the necessary clues to potentially answer these and other questions. Stay tuned!
Photo caption: 1) Whale #1124, Tips, in the the Bay of Fundy- 2009, 2) A map of the Bay of Fundy with Grand Manan Island, 3) The calf of #3440 off North Head, Grand Manan.
Upon our annual migration to Lubec, Maine we find ourselves reunited with our "Fundy Family." For the eight weeks of the season we all live together at the field house. The field house was built at the turn of the century. The house was owned by the Mulholland family for generations and was at one time divided to accommodate two families.
It's great fun to listen to the local townspeople reminisce about the people who lived in this house long ago. Since the Aquarium has owned the field house, we have turned a living room into our main office, a back kitchen into an equipment room and closets into bedrooms.
The house has kept it's charm with its original heating registers from the 1900s, antique wallpaper, and hardwood floors. We have made minor improvements such as bringing in internet service, remodeling the kitchen and replacing the 57 windows to protect the house during the harsh Lubec winters. As with any old house, there are a multitude of home improvement projects that we work on as time allows.
The real fun is the dynamic of 9 full-time researchers and many visiting researchers living in the house together. During stretches of long weather, we buckle down in the house and set to work, doing photo analysis and matching the whales we've seen in the field. On these days in we tend to mill around the kitchen alot. Our volunteer cook, Betty, has to chase us out of the kitchen so she can get dinner ready! While living and working together can be challenging at times, it also comes with the benefit of having a built-in family dynamic. We lean on each other in tough times, celebrate each others achievements and take off in troupes for hikes, bike rides and soccer.
At the end of the day, we all congregate in the kitchen for dinner. Dinners can vary from an "intimate" dinner between the 9 full-time researchers to a large, boisterous gathering of over 20 people. No matter how many are in attendance, dinner is always a lively event with great food, stories from the field (present events and past) and lots of laughter! -Cyndi
August is proving to be a great month for surveys. We were able to get out the past three days! The winds were light Wednesday and Thursday and sighting conditions were excellent for surveying the bay. Conditions Friday were not as nice; the sea was calm in the morning, but quickly picked up early in the afternoon. Luckily, we were close to home when the weather turned sour. The ride home through the Grand Manan Channel was wet, but short and we made it to the dock at 2:30 p.m.
The Bay was as calm as a lake both Wednesday and Thursday. At one point Amy took a picture of her reflection in the water while the boat was moving. Such calm conditions allowed us to cover a good portion of the bay. We surveyed the southern part of the bay as far east as the shipping lanes.
On Wednesday, we sighted a lot of right whales near the shipping lanes and noticed an oil tanker in the outbound shipping lane. Moe radioed Fundy Traffic and notified them of the presence of right whales in the area. Fundy Traffic responded immediately, notifying the oil tanker of the whales position. We were all very pleased with how quickly Fundy Traffic responded.
There seems to be a lot of activity in the bay this year. Thursday, we sighted 14 humpback whales, 27 right whales and 407 harbor porpoises! That's quite an improvement compared to the 2 right whales we saw on our first day out. To date, we have sighted 33 individual right whales, which includes 7 of the 39 mother and calf pairs seen in the southeast calving grounds this past winter.
The weather is marginal for the next couple of days. We are watching the weather forecasts closely and hoping for the winds to drop low enough for us to get out on the water.
Stay tuned for more posts about who we've sighted and more exciting stories of our adventures in the Bay of Fundy!
Tuesday's first boat day was a good shakedown cruise even though only two right whales were found. The survey was extensive covering much of the Critical Habitat area. We learned, for whatever reason, that there were few right whales in the Bay of Fundy this year on August 4, compared to many whales at the same time last year.
Wednesday and Thursday turned out to be office days for the Team. The two days ashore gave us time to get all the boat and office systems running smoothly, not to mention time to get our personal gear in order. By Friday morning the weather looked good and the well tuned Team and research vessel, the Nereid, were off at 6 a.m. to find if any of the other 400 or so known right whales had settled into the Bay of Fundy for their summer forage.
As soon as we began the regular transect southward, hugging the east side of Grand Manan Island, we came across whales, humpback whales. Although the Team's mission is to survey for right whales, there are other research teams surveying humpbacks and the Aquarium Team photographed these three to send the images on to the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, which maintains the photo catalogue for humpbacks. Symbiosis is a process that pervades the science world, and research teams often help each other out when it does not impede their own work.
Two hours later we started spotting right whales, and three were documented in the southern part of the survey area. No more whales were seen until well after noon. By then we were surveying in the northern part of the area. A mother and its calf popped up very near the boat. The Team almost immediately identifies them as EG #2791 and her new calf (find this individual and others on the North Atlantic Right Whale Catalog). Two mom and calf pairs made it to the feeding grounds, only 35 more to account for in the next two months of surveying. That's right, this past year there were more right whale births than ever recorded before. Good news to be celebrated cautiously, for the population growth still remains well below recovery levels.
There are many things going on in the Bay of Fundy in addition to right whale surveys. We heard an emergency broadcast that there was a severe storm packing 60 mile per hour gusts of wind in Passamaquoddy Bay. The storm was close enough for us to see but far enough away to monitor and stay clear of. The Bay is a unique place and during the many hours of survey we get to see harbor porpoise, gray and harbor seals, white sided dolphins, shearwaters, storm petrels, phalaropes, schools of tuna and even basking sharks which we occasionally see breaching. Many species sightings are recorded and the information shared with other research teams. There is not a day without some sort of surprise. Today we had a couple. While on watch I saw an odd shaped animal in the water that I was hard pressed to identify, and we actually slowed down to investigate. Upon closer look it was a large gray seal with a good size fish hanging out each side of its mouth. It was nonchalant as it slipped away with its prize leaving us wondering what it would do with such a catch.
The other surprise came on the way in. We called it a day when the wind began to strengthen and the weather on the horizon looked unpredictable. We headed diagonally across the survey area straight for North Head on Grand Manan Island, the quickest way home. We sighted and documented one more right whale on the way making a total of six for the day. We even saw two more right whale flukes in the distance leading us to believe that the Bay was starting to fill up. But for a couple of hours we could see on the horizon, toward Grand Manan, multiple high straight blows from a group of finback whales, the second largest whale in the world. We had to investigate this spectacle. Soon, voluminous blows of about twenty finback whales surrounded us. The videos are sufficient comment about the experience.
We packed up the Boston office into our truck early Monday morning and headed north. Various cars packed to the brim showed up at the Lubec, Maine field station (photo album here) throughout the weekend. It always takes longer than expected to brush away the cobwebs and establish a functional office after the house has been dormant most of the winter. But we didn't have much time to acclimatize before jumping on the boat the very next day.
We were worried the weather wouldn't be conducive to surveying since there has been so much fog here over the past week, so when Tuesday, August 4, looked clear we grabbed the opportunity to get out on the water. After a long debriefing in boat safety and a few practice drills, we headed south out to the Bay of Fundy past Grand Manan. It was a beautiful day out on the water despite the thin layer of fog early in the day making it hard to distinguish a blow.
When our visibility was reduced considerably (less than one nautical mile at times) we would sit stationary for a period, and set up a listening station. Shutting down the engine, the blower and inverter so there was no interfering noise we would all sit in the midst of the fog and listen for blows. In fact it turned out that the Bay was relatively quiet and we were worried that we would get 'skunked' (have no sightings for the day).
Reports from locals suggested that there was nothing but a few fin whales around, and only a small number of right whale sightings a couple of weeks ago. However, in the last hour we had a sighting of a mom calf pair (EG # 2145 and calf). It was very exciting for me to see the pair and know that they had made the long migration successfully. Mom had a lot of mud on her head (see image) which may be an indication that she had been feeding on the ocean floor. Since I have a lot more experience observing these whales in their southern calving grounds where they do not feed, it is interesting to witness them performing different activities. Right whales are typically skim feeders but their food source (copepods) are found much deeper in the water column here in the Bay of Fundy and so it is not uncommon to see whales come to the surface with mud on their heads. It is good to see #2145 up here so early starting to fatten up after her extensive fasting period. She certainly deserves it after travelling approximately 3,000 miles, giving birth, nursing, not feeding the entire time, and with her 2009 calf close by her side, hopefully picking up a few hints along the way.
On the ride home the fog had rolled back in, so we relied on our radar and the crews' navigational skills to get us safely back to the dock. The next day brought more thick fog and so we caught up on data protocols and organizing the office. Luckily Friday looks to be giving us great conditions and we should get back out to see who else is in the area. We will keep you updated on all our latest news and look forward to your comments, but that's all for now.
We are getting ready to begin our aerial survey field season in the southeastern United States. On December 1st, we will be 1000 feet in the air scanning the endless waters off Georgia and Florida's coastline for right whales, especially mothers with their new born calves! There have already been reports of right whales off the coast of South Carolina by the Wildlife Trust aerial survey team! To follow the whales down to the warmer waters off the east coast U.S. click on the link to our Aerial Survey Blog and don't forget to bookmark! It's sure to be an exciting season! Photo Caption: A mother and her calf interacting with a pod of dolphins in the southeast U.S. Photo taken by Gabriel Munoz.
On September 25th, the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. hosted a gala for the opening of their new permanent exhibit, the Sant Ocean Hall. Suspended from the ceiling above the center of the Hall is the focal point of the exhibit--a full size model of a North Atlantic right whale. It's an actual replica of a cataloged individual, a female named Phoenix. You can see photos and a history of Phoenix on the North Atlantic Right Whale Catalog, search for catalog #1705.
Since 2004 Amy Knowlton and I have been working with the Smithsonian to make sure the model, and every other detail of information about right whales, is as accurate and up-to-date as possible. Because of that long relationship helping to develop that aspect of the exhibit Amy and I were invited to the black tie event, along with New England Aquarium Vice President of Research (and our fearless leader) Scott Kraus.
It was a great evening to see Phoenix and read all the information about right whales that we had spent years reviewing, and also to be the first (along with 1500 other guests) to see the exhibit. The Sant Ocean Hall is 23,000 square feet of fun facts and education about the world's most precious resource: the oceans that cover 71 percent of the earth's surface. The exhibit includes more than 650 marine specimens ranging from microscopic plankton to giant squid (and Phoenix, of course!) There are state of the art inter-active exhibits, video displays, and so much more than we could possibly see in the three hours we were there. We whale researchers, typically most comfortable in jeans, had to dress up and rub elbows with the elite of Washington. For some reason, we weren't featured in the New York social diary (scroll past first article) but as you can see we managed to look presentable!
Caption to group photo: The right whale group at the Smithsonian Ocean Hall opening. From right to left: Amy Knowlton, Bill McWeeny, Roz Rolland, Scott Kraus, Marilyn Marx and Jon Alberts (Marilyn's husband) photographer: Karen Steuer
Coming in our fall sponsorship newsletter we'll have an article about the creation of the model and our involvement in the project, as well as more about the opening itself. If you want to read more about it, here's the link to our sponsorship program.
If you have been captivated by our blog and would like to help support right whale research, then the right whale sponsorship program may be for you. Choose one of the six whales and receive a photograph, composite drawing, map pinpointing all the places your whale has been sighted, a one year subscription to Right Whale Research News - the biannual newsletter authored by the New England Aquarium's Right Whale Research Team, and much more. To learn more about the right whale sponsorship program and to sponsor a right whale online click here.
Photo Caption: R/V Neried photodocumenting a right whale. Photo taken from R/V Callisto.
Hi, Jess Taylor here. I've flown aerial surveys with the NEAq team for 3 years now. I took a year off last year when I was traveling around Australia. I've always wanted to go to Australia so it was great! I did some humpback research over there on the west coast, dived the great barrier reef, and saw a few blue whales on an aerial survey, but I really missed right whales and am very excited to be back.
I have spent the last month here at the field station in Lubec, Maine. It has been great getting to see some of these familiar whales in close proximity. I got to see a very special whale, Catspaw that I haven't seen since 2005. I saw her on one of my first ever flights, when I was still learning how to take pictures whilst leaning out of a window, spinning in a plane at 1000 feet! So I was particularly nervous when we realized that the whale I had to photograph was giving birth! An event that had never been witnessed before. I was very happy to see her up in the Bay of Fundy with her 2008 calf, right on schedule giving birth every 3 years.
Whale Catalog #1632, Catspaw, with her second calf, #3532, male, named Resolution. Taken January 5, 2005, four days after the calf was born. Photo: Jessica Larson / NEAq
It has been a really good experience to work from a boat in comparison to a plane down south. We have seen so many whales every day that we have been out, it's very hard to keep track of which whales we already photographed that day. It is as disorienting as being in the plane when there are no points of reference (like land) and trying to keep track of which whales were already photographed. It is a real skill to keep track of the directions of all the blows you see in the distance. I am also very lucky to have had the opportunity to work with the New England Aquarium team, who have been working with these whales since the early 80s, they are real pros. There is a whale watcher who is designated to ID all of the individuals in a group that we work and remember which whales we have seen throughout the day, this is a really important job. The way that they recognise the individuals in the field so quickly is remarkable.
We have been extremely lucky with the weather since I arrived on the 8th of September and it turned out to be an excellent month. I was able to get out on the water eight days, there was a window of good weather when we managed to get out three days in a row. On the 23rd we couldn't get back to the dock because we kept seeing more whales on our way home! They were just off of the lighthouse on Grand Manan, and eventually we had to leave them before it got dark. During that time we saw over 50 whales on each day! I have felt totally overwhelmed by all that I am learning, and we have had lots of unique experiences out on the water. There have been a few times that we were approached by a curious calf; I have heard whales mooing; and saw SAGs of over 15 animals all rolling, flipper slapping, making noises and underwater exhalations.
With a little more time on our hands, Cyndi and I visited a local preschool group to talk to some four-year-olds about right whales. Seeing how excited they were that they lived next to such fascinating creatures, re-iterates from a child's point of view just how amazing these mystical creatures are.
Now, with the boat safely hauled out for the winter and the field station packed away, we are ready to head back to Boston. I am glad i had the opportunity to work with such a passionate and affable group of people. We are all sad to leave the bay knowing that on our last day on the water, Sept. 25th, we saw 44 whales. We are all confident that the whales are still in the area, but do to the increasing weather conditions and deteriorating funding we cannot afford to stay in the area to help protect them. As we all return home, we say our goodbyes. The right whale team is spread out across the country, so the next time we will all be together again will be at the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium in November.
I hope the whales have a safe migration south. I look forward to seeing what whales show up and meeting the new additions to our population.
Although our field season is officially over there is still information we would like to make available to you. So keep tuning in to find out more about our efforts to protect one of the world most endangered marine mammals.
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.
Almost a full week had gone by before we were able to get back out on the water. After hearing reports of right whales near the northern end of Campobello Island, we began our morning by searching for right whales as we passed East Quoddy light. Although we didn't find any right whales at this northern latitude, we came across the first humpback whales of the season! Humpback whales also raise their flukes when they dive, but they have distinctive patterns on the ventral side of their flukes while the flukes of a right whale are completely black. Humpback whale researchers use the pattern on the ventral side of the fluke, along with the shape of the dorsal fin to identify individuals.
Continuing our survey into the Bay, we found that the right whales had moved a few miles to the east. Throughout the day we found that most of the whales were solitary even though they were spatially very close to each other. We photographed over 35 individuals including 12 engaged in a SAG! The whales in the middle of the SAG rolled slowly around the female, stroking her with their flippers. Other whales who weren't positioned next to the female patrolled the edges of the SAG, as if waiting for the perfect opportunity to slip in next to her. The SAG held a surprise for us although. One of the whales had a dorsal fin! Somehow a humpback whale had ended up in the middle of the SAG! The humpback only remained with the SAG briefly though. As the SAG broke up for a few minutes and then reformed three hundred meters away, the humpback whale headed in the opposite direction. As the afternoon progressed, the tide turned to become poised against the low winds. We turned west and spent the rest of the day photographing whales that we passed on our way back to Lubec.
Top photo: Flukes of a humpback whale. Photographer: Philip Hamilton, NEAq Bottom photo: Two right whales engaged in a SAG. Photographer: Moira Brown, NEAq
Watch researchers as they photograph a mother with her calf. Listen to hear the whale watcher, Monica, inform the photographers, Dan and Cyndi, of the different body parts that need to be photographed. *video taken by Jonathan
Our Right Whale Research Team has moved to Lubec, Maine to begin their yearly Bay of Fundy field season. The season lasts from early August through September and we are proud that this will be our 30th year in a row. Check out our online photo gallery of images from the season. This year our research is made possible by generous grants from three supporters including Irving Oil, the Island Foundation and decadent donations from Winfrey's Fudge and Chocolates.
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We are getting ready to begin our aerial survey field season in the southeastern United States. On December 1st, we will be 1000 feet in the air scanning the endless waters off Georgia and Florida's coastline for right whales, especially mothers with their new born calves! There have already been reports of right whales off the coast of South Carolina by the Wildlife Trust aerial survey team! To follow the whales down to the warmer waters off the east coast U.S. click on the link to our 
