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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Labels: 2008 Season, Bay of Fundy, Jonathan, Right Whale, SAG

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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Labels: 2008 Season, Bay of Fundy, Jonathan, SAG

On the boat there are several jobs that we rotate through during the course of a long day at work. While we always have a licensed captain on board, we all are experienced at piloting the research vessel. This is an important skill as the U.S. permit we work under allows us to approach these highly endangered whales.







But never fear, the "whale watcher" is there to clear up the confusion. The "whale watcher" is responsible for knowing which whales we have seen in a day (to minimize photographing duplicates) and which whale the photographers are currently photographing. To organize whales within a day we letter them from A to Z and you will hear the researchers yelling letters back and forth as they try to track which whales they are photographing while working a large SAG. Many times the "whale watcher" will recognize the whales on sight and record their catalog number while in the field. Several of the researchers on our team have worked with this population for over 20 years and recognize many of the whales on sight.




These five positions are always filled while we work whales here in the Bay of Fundy. There are many other tasks that pop up throughout the day such as collecting biological samples or matching whales with our field matching book. Everyone on our team is trained to work in each role and we take turns wearing these different hats!





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Labels: 2008 Season, Cyndi, research vessel, Right Whales, SAG, whale watcher

The recent north winds blew out the fog and then calmed down nicely this morning, giving us our first good weather window in two weeks. Excited to be out on the water again, we awoke at 4:15 this morning to check the weather, put on lots of layers, ate breakfast and loaded the boat with equipment. By 5:30 we were off the dock and headed out to find the whales!

We went to the eastern part of the Bay as we had heard that whales were recently seen there. After a few hours of surveying we found our first whale and quickly began to see others. As we photographed each whale, we would head over to photograph the next one that surfaced and soon found ourselves so far east that we were sitting in the middle of the outbound shipping lane! Keeping a keen eye out for ships (although we didn't see any all day) so we could be quick to move out of their way, we photographed four mother and calf pairs and six other individuals. Four of these individuals were involved in a surface active group (SAG).

We photographed the whales as they energetically rolled and twisted around each other. The female in the SAG was a well known whale named Morse (go to the right whale catalog and search for #1608). Morse was born in 1986 and was given her name because a few white scars on her head reminded researchers of Morse code. After a good day with the whales, it will be a quite night at the "Whale house" as we all head to bed early in hopes that we will be woken by a subtle knock and the words "we're good to go."


We were able to get out on the water today for a brief window. Here is some footage of researchers Yan, Dan, Cyndi, Monica and Erin Burke (Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries) hard at work documenting a mother and calf pair. The mom's name is Arpeggio (go to the right whale catalog and search for #2753). Listen and look closely and you will hear the sounds of camera shutters clicking as researcher describe the scene and see the distinctive propeller scar on the right flank of Arpeggio.

Photo of Morse (EG #1608) taken by Erin Burke.
Video of Arpeggio (EG #2753) and her calf taken by Jonathan Cunha.

- Cyndi/Jonathan

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Labels: 2008 Season, Cyndi, Jonathan, mother and calf pairs, Right Whales, SAG

One of the terms we frequently use when describing right whale behavior is surface active group (SAG). A SAG has a fairly broad definition--two or more whales within a body length interacting at the surface--but typically, the SAG is comprised of one female and a number of males competing with each other in order to mate with her. Some SAGs are extremely active, with a lot of rolling and white water, whereas others are more sedate. The number of animals in a SAG can range from two or three to more than 40!

For years researchers presumed that the primary reason for a SAG was mating. However, conception is thought to take place in the winter (since gestation is about 12 months and right whales usually give birth between December and February), yet SAGs occur year round. Recent analyses of the composition and seasonality of these SAGs indicate that actually only about half of them include females able to reproduce. Thus, SAGs are not just for mating purposes.

Some have been documented to be all male, or all female, or all youngsters. Our colleague, Dr. Susan Parks from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, wrote a paper about SAG behavior in collaboration with Aquarium researchers (see below). She hypothesizes that, in addition to conception, SAGs may serve a variety of different roles including practice, play and social bonding.

Studying the behavior of marine mammals such as right whales is much more difficult than that of terrestrial species, because we get just a glimpse of these animals when they're at the water's surface. But the long-term photo-identification aspect of the Aquarium's program has enabled researchers to answer some very basic and important questions. To see video of a SAG see entry #11 Behavior Video (SAG).

Top photo: Taken by Monica Zani in the Southeast U.S.
Bottom photo: A typically boisterous SAG in the Bay of Fundy. Photo taken by Moira Brown

Parks, S. E. et al. 2007. Occurrence, Composition, And Potential Functions Of North Atlantic Right Whale (Eubalaena glacialis) Surface Active Groups. Marine Mammal Science 23(4): 868-887.

Marilyn

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Labels: 2008 Season, Behaviors, Marilyn, Right Whales, SAG

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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Labels: 2008 Season, Bay of Fundy, Jonathan, Right Whales, SAG