8/23/14

#9: What a difference a week makes!

While some of the team is offshore, a few of us have stayed in Lubec to continue surveying the Bay of Fundy.  We had two good days out on Wednesday and Thursday but the number of whales had dropped significantly since last week’s surveys. Even with thorough coverage (by 3 research vessels: Nereid, Callisto and Selkie) in calm seas only seven whales were photo’d in the two days.  That's quite a change from the 26 individuals seen on August 12.

Catalog #4091 (four-year-old, sex unknown) in the Bay of Fundy August 21. Photo: Amy Knowlton

Besides the right whales we had some great views of a few other species, including the oddest looking fish on the planet, the Mola mola (also known as ocean sunfish)...

Video: Alex Loer

...a sperm whale (and using the unique scalloped edge of the fluke we were able to confirm that it is the same whale we had photographed back in 2013!)...


Photo: Elizabeth Burgess

...and a very beautiful avian visitor--curious tern!

Photo: Marilyn Marx

Meanwhile out on Roseway, the Shelagh crew have been having some very successful days and have seen many of the whales that had been in the Bay of Fundy during the first week of surveys back in early August. We are hopeful that the whales come back into the Bay, so stay tuned!

Marilyn
Posted by Marilyn at 12:57 PM
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