# 1 Right Whales And Researchers Migrate To Canadian Waters.

The New England Aquarium Right Whale Research Team has relocated the office and researchers from Boston to the field station in Lubec, Maine to start the annual Bay of Fundy research season! This year marks the 31st consecutive year of the Aquarium's right whale research program in Canadian waters. From our seasonal home port in Lubec we will be surveying for right whales in the lower Bay of Fundy every day weather permits (mostly it is fog and wind that keep us ashore). Our vessel is a Dyer 29 named R/V Nereid which has served us well since 1981. For the 2nd consecutive year we will charter a 50 foot fishing vessel to take some of the team offshore to survey for right whales for two weeks on Roseway Basin, south of Nova Scotia. This is the second and only other known critical habitat for the species in the waters of Atlantic Canada.

Why did we choose to spend August and September in these cold, fog shrouded and often stormy waters? Because every summer North Atlantic right whales migrate to these waters to feed on plankton, nurse their young and socialize (courtship). These two areas where the whales concentrate for several months provide us with the best opportunity to document individuals and new calves as well as collect samples for DNA, hormone and health studies. We are looking forward to an exciting and productive research season and we hope you will enjoy following our progress and discoveries throughout the season.

2010 Team members include NEAq researchers: Scott Kraus, Roz Rolland, Moira Brown, Amy Knowlton, Monica Zani, Jessica Taylor, Marilyn Marx and Marianna Hagbloom. Kara Mahoney will be taking a leave from NEAq education for two weeks to help us with our Roseway Basin surveys. We will be joined for the season by Yan Guilbault and Candace Borutskie from Quebec, Zach Swaim from North Carolina, Dan and Claudia Pendleton from Washington, and Jennifer Tennessen from Pennsylvania State University. Volunteers who help with research and field station renovations include Travis Tennessen (Pennsylvannia), Bill McWeeny (Maine), and Jerry Conway (New Brunswick).

NEAq Right Whale Research, Right Whale Catalog

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