The New England Aquarium is part of a massive collaborative effort to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales from ship strikes, gear entanglements and other threats. All work and images are under scientific permit from NMFS.
9/7/09
#12: Half day on the water
We were able to get on the water today for a half day trip. The winds were supposed to be light this morning and were predicted to pick up to 15 knots in the early afternoon. After being stuck on land the past three days due to wind, we were itching to get back on the water. Our morning was calm and sighting conditions were clear enough to see Digby's Neck in Nova Scotia.
We surveyed south of Grand Manan as far east of the shipping lanes. We started off to a slow start with only two right whales by 10 a.m. But all that changed by about 12pm when we saw a large social active group (SAG) in the distance. As we approached the SAG, 3 miles from where we were, whales started heading in all directions. The wind had already picked up by then and sighting conditions were making it difficult to stay with the whales. We managed to photograph 9 whales in the SAG and Philip was able to identify 8 of them on the spot! Truly impressive.
Here is a short clip highlighting our day out:
Stay tuned to hear all about our 10 day trip to Roseway Basin were we say 60 right whales!
-Jonathan
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