Unusual whale sightings on rise in Cape Cod Bay




By Chris Lindahl 

Right whales are not the only visitors to Cape Cod Bay catching the attention of scientists.

Although the observation of a likely record number of North Atlantic right whales in the bay made a splash Friday, air crews also have been keeping tabs on other unusual sightings in the area, a rich feeding ground for whales. On one recent flight, researchers counted 40 sei whales, which come to the bay only when plankton levels are high, and a single bowhead whale, an Arctic species that rarely travels this far south, according to Charles “Stormy” Mayo of the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown.


Scientists also have spotted one particular right whale in the bay who has been sighted only four times since 1984.

A NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center aerial survey team on Friday saw the bowhead southeast of Chatham, fishery biologist Christin B. Khan said, causing much delight among those in the plane. It was feeding near a right whale and a sei whale, creating a “remarkable” photo opportunity. “I don’t think there’s another photograph that exists like that,” Khan said.

That particular whale’s travels have been such an intriguing topic to scientists Corey Accardo and Peter Duley that they have written a forthcoming paper on the individual, Khan said, which was first seen in Cape Cod Bay in March 2012 and later in the Bay of Fundy between Nova Scotia and Maine.

Bowheads often inhabit waters off northern Canada and Greenland, according to Philip Hamilton, research scientist at New England Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life.

Scientists are able to confirm the identity of particular whales through patterns on their bodies. In the case of right whales, that is often the white patches on their heads called callosities, or areas of cornified skin that are filled with tiny crustaceans. But in the case of the bowhead, it was the absence of callosity and the presence of scarring that led scientists to confirm the individual’s identity, according to Khan.

Air crews Friday counted 217 right whales in Cape Cod Bay, out of 524 in the world, and counted a fourth right whale calf — just one of four of the endangered species born this year. Researchers have identified that calf’s mother as No. 1412 from the North Atlantic Right Whale Catalog, and her unusual sighting history has excited scientists, including Hamilton.

“I’ve been intrigued by her ever since I started this work in 1986,” he said.


Right whales are closely followed by scientists, who will photograph them every year or every other year. Most individuals tend to stay within 100 miles of the Eastern Seaboard and in five habitats, including locations off Florida and Georgia, where calves are born, and in Cape Cod Bay. But No. 1412 appears to use those common stomping grounds as “auxiliary habitats” and instead favors places not often surveyed by scientists, Hamilton said. She was first seen in 1984 on Jeffreys Ledge in the Gulf of Maine. She had been sighted just three other times before Friday, including once off Iceland.

Also observed in and just outside the bay Friday were 24 humpback whales, 23 fin whales and 40 sei whales, according to Mayo. Sei whales are not normally seen in the bay unless there are particularly high plankton counts, he said, as was the case in 2011.

Hamilton said that could be why such a high number of right whales are being seen in the bay, despite the apparent decline in their overall population, in part because of entanglements and ship strikes.

Mayo said sightings Monday were still being tallied but would appear little changed from Friday’s numbers.

Scientists advise that boats in the area travel slower than 10 knots and watch out for whales that may be feeding just below the surface. It is illegal for boats or airplanes to approach within 500 yards of a North Atlantic right whale without a federal research permit. Smaller boats traveling at high speeds are a particular danger.

The safest place to observe whales, Mayo said, is on land. As of Monday afternoon, he said, the best spots to see whales were from the eastern entrance of the Cape Cod Canal to Sandy Neck in West Barnstable; from Great Island in Wellfleet north to Provincetown Harbor; and from Herring Cove toward Wood End Light in Provincetown. The water is deep near the lighthouse and allows people to see whales close-up while they are feeding, without leaving the beach.

“It’s as good as anything we see with a research permit from a boat,” he said. “It’s a time when walking the beach, you can get some amazing views.”

 

Last edited by Goose (4/20/2017 4:53 pm)