As the team prepares to head up to the field station in Lubec, Maine to survey the summer nursery/feeding grounds in the lower Bay of Fundy for right whales, the blog posts are starting to shift from the Aerial Survey Blog to the Bay of Fundy Blog. The season is scheduled to start August 3rd so keep chekcing the blog to hear more about all the interesting and exciting adventures of the New England Aquarium's right whale researcher team.

Click here to go to the Bay of Fundy Blog. Don't forget to subscribe!!

-Jonathan
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Labels: #45: Bay of Fundy Blog Starting Soon, 2008-2009 Season, Jonathan, Right Whales

On Saturday, April 18, an article was published in the Telegraph-Journal. The article discusses the 11 year, $400,000 collaboration between the New England Aquarium right whale team and Irving oil Corporation. Our very own Dr. Moira Brown is quoted several times throughout the article.

"Back when I presented this issue to Irving and their colleagues in the Maritimes, some of the questions centred around if we move the shipping lanes, would the population recover,"

Irving Oil's contribution will help fund our 30th consecutive season in the Bay of Fundy this summer!

To view the article click here.

Photo taken by Yan Guilbault in the Bay of Fundy.

- Jonathan

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Labels: #43: Dr. Moira Brown in the News, 2008-2009 Season, Irving Oil, Jonathan, Moira Brown, Right Whales

The North Atlantic right whale calving ground off the coast of Georgia and northeast Florida was known to fisherman long before researchers discovered it. Historic whaling records show numerous mother and calf pairs hunted in the now critical habitat. In January 1935, local fisherman off the coast of St. Augustine, FL spotted and hunted a mother and calf. After a six-hour stand off, the calf's injuries proved too much and it succumbed to the trauma. The mother managed to elude the whalers, but suffered multiple gunshot wounds (read more about this story here). Following this event, a moratorium was put on hunting right whales in U.S. waters.

Almost 50 years later in 1984, researchers at the New England Aquarium, with the help of Delta Airlines pilot David Mattingly and a group of volunteer Delta Airlines pilots, decided to fly aerial surveys in this historic habitat. The results were momentous and would change the way coastal waters were used along the eastern U.S. Researchers discovered the only known calving ground for the North Atlantic right whale, later designated one of three critical habitats in U.S. waters.

These southeastern U.S. waters provide a winter habitat for more than just pregnant females; juveniles, non-pregnant females and some adult males are also seen here. The migration is no easy undertaking; these whales must travel over 1,200 miles, evading clusters of fixed and ghost fishing gear while crossing major shipping lanes into Boston, New York, New Jersey and Charleston. Once in the habitat, the threats are not diminished; the ports of Brunswick, St. Mary and Jacksonville are all within the critical habitat.

Birthing females, or cows, give birth to a single calf at a minimum rate of 1 every 3 years, presuming the calf survives long enough to be weaned from the mother. The calving season spans from December through March with a peak in calving events between January and February. Nearly all cows appear to use the calving ground regardless of where they spend their time the rest of the year. Through extensive survey effort, it is known that not all cows bring their calves to the main summer feeding grounds in the Bay of Fundy. Some go to other feeding areas in the Gulf of Maine, Gulf of St. Lawrence, and likely other summer feeding habitats that have yet to be discovered.

Labels: #40: The Calving Ground, 2008-2009 Season, Calving Ground, Jonathan, Right Whales

After our group photo I was able to stick around and get video of our team taking off after lunch. Zach and Jess were in the plane with pilots Ken Pearson and Holly Freedman. The plane is a Cessna 337 Skymaster. Check out the video below.






There's video of what take off is like from inside the plane in this earlier post.

-Jonathan

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Labels: #38: Plane Take off Video, 2008-2009 Season, Jonathan, Right Whales

Jess and Zach flew today and Kara and I went to meet them at the airport when they landed to refuel to take our annual team photo in front of the plane. Event though we all fly so much, it is very rare for us all to be at the airport at the same time. We made our photo shoot quick so Jess and Zach could get back in the air and find some whales. So far they have had 11 whale, including 3 mother and calf pairs. We are happy that we are still finding whales when we fly; but, there is only a few weeks left before we all head back north and none of us like the idea of leaving with the notion that there are still whales in the area.




Photo Caption: From Left- Jess, Kara, Zach, Jonathan

Labels: #37: Team Photo, 2008-2009 Season, Jonathan, Right Whales

Photo Credit: Wildlife Trust

Labels: #35: Right Whale Sedation, 2008-2009 Season, Bridle, Entanglement, Jonathan, Right Whales, Science Daily, Sedation

Today, NBC Nightly News ran a story on the North Atlantic right whale. The NBC team came to our field station to interview our team on February 13. They videotaped everything, from Jess answering a call on the survey plane relaying sighting information for right whales to Monica discussing the importance of the EWS aerial surveys. The NBC team also accompanied a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) disentanglement effort. They did a great job showing how so many forces need to come together for effort to be completed safely and successfully. Below are the two videos, TV and Extended, respectively.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Extended Version

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

-Jonathan

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Labels: #32: Right Whale on NBC, Jonathan, NBC, Right Whales

On February 26, we flew our normal survey area of 406 nm. We sighted 30 right whales and 1 humpback in our survey area. We saw a lot of whale behaviors typical for this area, SAGs, nursing and logging to name a few. One behavior that we saw I had never witness in the Southeast before; posturing.

Posturing is when a whale shows off it flexibility by arching its back, simultaneously lifting it head and flukes out of the water. Its hard to imaging such an enormous creature contorting its body in such a way, but it happens. The reason for this behavior is not known, but it is commonly seen after a whale has been resting at the surface, (logging), for extended periods of time. That did not appear to be the case for this whale, since it was interacting with a group of whale at the time the behavior was captured. Both the visual aesthetics and mystery behind this behavior make it a captivating experience to witness.


- Jonathan

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Labels: #31: Whale Behavior - Posturing, Behaviors, Jonathan, Posturing, Right Whales

On Sunday, February 15, John Sutter from CNN online came to Florida to find out about right whales. He interviewed with us, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Council (FWC) and the Marineland volunteer network trying to capture all of the efforts involved in protecting this majestic creature.

We brought him to our plane to see our team in action and then to our field station to observer how we process all of our data. He asked a lot of interesting questions and took hours of audio recordings. Feeling that he fully captured the dedication of the aerial observers, he headed south to St. Augustine where he met up with the FWC team to discuss the boat board effort.

From there he headed further south to meet the Marineland volunteer network comprised of more than 200 individuals. John put together a comprehensive story about right whales and the efforts involved in monitoring and conserving this population.

There are a number of different webpages dedicated to right whales on the CNN site. I have labeled them to make it an easier search.

Searching for right whales (Plane, Boat, Land)

Spotting Endangered Species from the Skies

How to Identify a right whale

Some of our favorite whales

~Jonathan

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Labels: #29: Right Whales on CNN, 2008-2009 Season, CNN, Jonathan, Right Whales

Yesterday, we flew our survey area. It thunderstormed throughout the night and into the early morning. When we woke, the weather had subsided and the winds dropped down to 12knts. Thinking that the weather would follow the forcast and pick up, we waited for the next few weather buoy updates. None of them showed the predicted winds.

We took off at 11:30am and flew from north to south. Before the plane was even off the ground, two public sightings came through on the pager alert system. We were preparing for a busy day. Uncertain that the weather would hold out long enough to complete a full survey, we decided to just cover the St. Mary's and St. John's River channels, that is the northern and southern end of the survey area. We proved the weather men wrong, sighting 6 whales and 3 mother and calf pairs and informed a vessel of right whales near by. All in all it was a successful day.

The weather forecast can be useful in planning your week, but today is a perfect example that predictions are not always 100% accurate.


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Labels: #28: Beating the Weather, 2008-2009 Season, Jonathan, Right Whales, weather

On Wednesday, a live stranded right whale was discovered on the shoals off Cape Lookout in North Carolina. The whale was identified by the New England Aquarium as the 2007 calf of Eg#2460, a two year old male.







On Thursday, a team of scientist arrived to the scene to assess the health of the whale. It was determined the 2 year old male was in poor condition and suffering. The atmospheric pressure and heating sun beating on the whale's 30 ft massive body made it exigent that team acted quickly to humanely euthanize the whale. A necropsy was performed to determine the cause of this sad and unusual travesty. Several samples were obtained and are currently being analysed.

To see photos of the stranded whale and watch a news video from WNC local news click here.

Photo Caption:
2007 calf of 2460 in the Bay of Fundy in 2007.

-Jonathan

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Labels: #22: Stranded Right Whale, 2008-2009 Season, Jonathan, Stranded Right Whale

Labels: #20: Our House, 2008-2009 Season, Jonathan, Photos, Research Station

Update on the previously mentioned entanglement case.

The telemetry buoy attachment was a success and the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies (PCCS) was able to monitor the entangled whale (2003 calf of 1711) as it swam from Brunswick, Georgia to Jacksonville, Florida Wednesday night. The PCCS sent the latest know position for the whale, which was in our survey area. We launched into action, flying south to the whale's last known position at latitude 30 18N and longitude 81 00W. The winds were blowing between 10-20 knots, which made sighting conditions difficult.


The entangled whale's last known position
We were getting frustrated that we couldn't find the whale despite the fact that the affixed telemetry buoy was telling us its exact position. Our frustration was relieved when the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission aerial survey team called us on the radio to tell us they had a visual on the whale 3 nautical miles south in their survey area.

The weather was not suitable to launch a full disentanglement effort, but both research vessels, Hurricane, Orion, were launched to survey. The r/v Orion went to the 2003 Calf of Eg#1711 to get better photographs of the entanglement and assess the whale's behavior. The r/v Hurricane stayed in our survey area to test their equipment for the acoustic and tagging research later this season. The new photographs taken by r/v Orion will help experts formulate the best plan of action for disentangling the whale. Now all we need is a weather window.

-Jonathan

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Labels: 2008-2009 Season, Entanglement, Jonathan, Right Whales

The Wildlife Trust/Georgia aerial survey team found an entangled whale today off the Georgia coast. The team was able to stay with the whale until the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) research vessel Hurricane arrived on scene. The Georgia DNR vessel was able to attach a telemetry buoy and remove some of the fishing line trailing back from the whale.

Photographs taken by the Wildlife Trust team were sent to specialist to review severity of the entanglement. Experts at the New England Aquarium believe the whale to be the 2003 calf of Eg#1711. (You can search for more information on this individual on the North Atlantic Right Whale Catalog.)

With winds blowing between 15-20 knots, the next few days do not look good enough to launch a disentanglement effort. We are hoping a window will open up and the telemetry buoy will stay attached to the whale long enough to relocate and launch a full scale disentanglement effort.

Photo Caption: The 2003 calf of Eg #1711 seen before it was entangled by the New England Aquarium. Photo taken February 2008 by Gabriella Munoz.

-Jonathan

Labels: 2008-2009 Season, Entanglement, Jonathan, Right Whales

After affixing the telemetry buoy to the remaining fishing line attached to Eg #1701's 2007 calf the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission research vessel Orion called it a day. On Sunday, the information received from the telemetry buoy lead researchers to believe that the buoy had become adrift of the whale. The last updated position of the buoy was in our survey area. Kara and I located the buoy, which was attached to approximately 100 feet of fishing line, and reported the position to the r/v Orion. The r/v Orion was already receiving the signal from the VHF signal emitted from the telemetry buoy, but now had a definite position to head for. They successfully recovered the telemetry buoy and approximately 100 ft of line attached to it. The 2007 Calf of #1701 has not been sighted since the telemetry buoy was attached, but it is suspected that the gear that remained on the animal when the buoy was attached shed along with the buoy. The story made the local news and was in the Washington Post.

-Jonathan

Photo: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission under NOAA Permit #932-1489

Labels: 2008-2009 Season, Aerial Survey, Entanglement, Jonathan, Right Whales

Yesterday, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) sighted an entangled whale in their survey area just south of Jacksonville Beach, FL. The New England Aquarium identified the whale as the 2007 calf of 1701. The FWC launched their research vessel Orion to assess the whale's entanglement and attach a telemetry buoy. Zach's previous experience assisting in the disentanglement attempt on Eg#3294 made him a hot commodity for disentanglement events. He was contacted within the first hour the entanglement case was reported to assist in the new entanglement case. The team successfully attached a telemetry buoy and cut hundreds of feet of line trailing behind the whale.

Fog in our survey area kept us on the ground for all of yesterday. Our plane does not have the specialized equipment necessary for flying in foggy areas.

Today, both the Aquarium and FWC aerial survey teams are in the air hoping to find the 2007 calf of 1701. The research vessel Orion is also on the water and ready for action.

-Jonathan

Labels: 2008-2009 Season, Entanglement, Jonathan, Right Whales

Piper, an adult female, was sighted on December 15th off the coast of Florida. Piper was first seen in 1993 by the NEAq aerial survey team off the coast of Florida. She was named Piper after a scar on her flank that resembles the airplane Piper Cub. (You can find out more about her by visiting the North Atlantic Right Whale Catalog and searching for Catalog #2320.)

Piper was entangled twice, in 1993 and 2002, but has been gear free since 2005. Although Piper has been seen in the Southeast waters of the U.S. since 1993, she was not seen with a calf until 2006. If you want to learn more about Piper and support right whale research, click here to see our sponsorship program.

Photo Caption:
Piper on December 15th 2008.

-Jonathan

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Labels: 2008-2009 Season, Aerial Survey, Jonathan, Piper, Right Whales

The entangled whale, Eg #3294, was sighted this morning off the coast of Georgia by the Wildlife trust Georgia aerial survey team. The Georgia DNR Research Vessel Hurricane responded and was able to attach a temeletry buoy to the trailing line behind the whale. The buoy sends a signal allowing researchers to track the whale. This will make future disentanglement attempts much easier to locate the whale. Zach was onboard the R/V Hurricane and looks forward to sharing his story!

-Jonathan

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Labels: 2008-2009 Season, Aerial Survey, Entanglement, Jonathan, Right Whales

See what its like when the aerial survey team takes off from McGill airport in a cessna skymaster 337 and heads for the Atlantic in search of right whales. Zach is seated in the right seat behind Ken and Holly. When we find whales Holly will open the window and Zach will photograph while circling above the whales at 1000 feet!






Video taken by Jess from the left seat of the plane.

-Jonathan

Labels: 2008-2009 Season, Aerial Survey, Jonathan, Right Whales, Take Off

Our team sighted an entangled right whale yesterday afternoon in our sighting area (30 26N -081 11W). The whale was later identified as Catalog #3294 (Find out more by searching for that whale on the North Atlantic Right Whale Catalog).




Kara and I were flying the southern part of our survey when, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a whale about one mile north of us. We broke from our track line and headed for the whale. As we approached, we noticed a very long piece of fishing line (approx. 350 ft) trailing behind the whale. Our team reacted quickly; Kara grabbed the camera and began photographing the whale and the trailing fishing line; I took a position of the whale and immediately called our ground contact, Jess; our pilots, Ken and Holly, kept an eye on the whale and circled overhead while keeping an eye out for other aircraft.




I gave Jess all the information I could about the whale, the time and location, what the entanglement looked like, the color of the line, the whale's behavior, the weather conditions (in case a disentanglement effort was launched), our endurance...etc. Kara reviewed her images to get a better idea of what the line was doing on the whales body. Our images show there is line wrapping around the whale's head and body and there appears to be fresh peduncle scars that may be from this entanglement. Jess was busy. She now had to call a list of people including the state and federal right whale coordinators.


The whale moved almost true north 4 miles while we photographed it! The whale was racing diving - A forceful and fast dive in which the flukes are typically lifted out of the water at a shallow angle. Racing dives are often observed in a quick series with each dive being performed after a single respiration. Photographing proved to be arduous, but that did not stop Kara. She managed to photograph every part of the whale that was visible and even the 350+ ft of line that was trailing behind it! Kara's images allowed entanglement specialist to get a better idea of the entanglement and its severity.

Labels: 2008-2009 Season, Entanglement, Jonathan, Right Whales

During the winter months, the New England Aquarium's aerial survey team shacks up in Fernandina Beach, Fl. Fernandina Beach is located on Amelia island off the Northeast coast of Florida. The airport our aerial survey team deploys from, McGill airport, is also located in Fernandina Beach.





For the past two years our team has called this beach house home. The house is transformed from a lovely vacation home into a field research station (many thanks to our landlord for allowing us to make these necessary modifications). We install a radio antenna on the back porch of our house which allows us to keep in contact with the plane throughout our survey area. We set up computer stations on the mezzanine balcony (commonly referred to as the 'control tower') and in the dinning room area. The clutter of laptops on the kitchen table more closely resembles a workstation than a place where we would gather to eat. As in most field stations there are more computers than there are people!


Contrary to popular belief, we do not live on the beach to work on our tans (although that is an advantage!). There are many other advantages for our team to be stationed on the water's edge. Our house is located in the middle latitude of our survey area. Our survey is weather dependant and where we are allows us to make weather calls from our back porch. We can walk out in the morning, look north, east and south to determine whether conditions are suitable for us to fly. Our survey is conducted from an altitude of 1000 ft. Sometimes we have what is known as a low ceiling - which can be fog or low clouds that inhibit us from seeing the ocean from survey altitude.


Weather conditions can change drastically from ocean to land. The combination of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) weather buoy readings and visual assessments from the beach allow us to make the best assessment of weather conditions in our survey area.


Photo Caption:
1) Front of the field research station.
2) Rear of the field research station.
3) The kitchen table cluttered with laptops.
4) View from the kitchen table looking up at the 'control tower'.


- Jonathan

Labels: 2008-2009 Season, Aerial Survey, Fernandina Beach, Jonathan, Research Station

Each winter the New England Aquarium is part of a comprehensive aerial survey effort in the Southeastern United States (SEUS) called the Early Warning System (EWS). The EWS was developed in December 1993 to provide near real time locations of right whales to the Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) so that seasonal dredging operations did not interfere with right whales.

The effort, communication, technology and awareness of the EWS have evolved greatly over the past sixteen years yet the primary goal remains the same. Today the EWS is an extremely large network which attempts to prevent ship collisions with right whales by providing real time detection to commercial mariners, U. S. Navy, ACOE, US Coast Guard, harbor pilots, port authorities and recreational boaters The EWS consists of three survey teams from Wildlife Trust, Florida Conservation Commission and New England Aquarium.





Together the three survey teams cover the entire right whale critical habitat from Georgia to
northeast Florida on every good weather day. In addition to the EWS, surveys are also conducted in South Carolina by Wildlife Trust. Each winter pregnant females migrate from the cold north Atlantic waters of the Bay of Fundy and New England to the temperate waters of the SEUS to give birth. In addition to mothers with their newborn calves the SEUS is highly utilized by numerous juveniles. The aerial survey teams can often document more than 100 individuals in a winter! The data collected from the EWS surveys helps researchers better understand the temporal occurrence, behavior and habitat use of this area in addition to contributing hundreds of sightings and thousands of images to the north Atlantic right whale catalog.



On Sunday, 11/30, all the aerial survey teams gathered in Fernandina Beach, FL to meet and discuss plans and protocols for the season. Then on December 1, our team joined Ken Person and Holly Friedman, two of our pilots, at our plane on the grounds of McGill Airport. Ken and Holly prepared us for any situation we might have to deal with while in flight, including aircraft fire safety, ditching procedures and general small plane etiquette. Ken and Holly spoke to us about what it is like being a pilot for such a specialized operation and how important overall communication is in the aircraft.

"If you see or smell something that you don't think is right, pipe up ... We are in different parts of the plane so you may see or smell something that we cannot." Ken said.

Now we are ready to fly, find right whales and have a safe, fun season! Tune in throughout the season to learn more about right whales and what it's like to fly aerial surveys for right whales!

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Labels: 2008-2009 Season, Aerial Survey, EWS, Jonathan, Right Whales, SEUS