Northern Right Whale Coloring Contest
The Endangered Northern Right is a baleen whale - 35 to 50+ feet long – up to 100 tons and feeds on krill and copepods.
Even after almost 70 years of protected status, the Northern Right Whale is the most endangered of the great whales. With fewer than 450 right whales remaining in the North Atlantic (possibly fewer than 437), and only 100 females of breeding age remaining in the population, time is clearly running out. Current threats to the species include collisions with ships and entanglement in fishing gear.
Even after almost 70 years of protected status, the Northern Right Whale is the most endangered of the great whales. With fewer than 450 right whales remaining in the North Atlantic (possibly fewer than 437), and only 100 females of breeding age remaining in the population, time is clearly running out. Current threats to the species include collisions with ships and entanglement in fishing gear.
Read About a Right Whale Calf's Journey....
Travels of the Urban Whale
The encounters of a right whale calf named Arpeggio during her first year.
By Scott D. Kraus & Rosalind M. Rolland; Right Whales in the Urban Ocean
Arpeggio (Eg#2753) was born near the border of Georgia and Florida, probably within 32 km of shore in early January 1997. Her first breath was downwind of two paper mills on shore that provide paper bags and boxes for grocery stores all over the country. Her mother, named Limpet (Eg#1153), spent several hours in the first week shepherding her newborn out of the way of three container ships, a Trident submarine, a navy frigate, a tug and barge, a dredge en route to an offshore dump site, numerous recreational fishing vessels, an oil tanker, and several shrimp boats. Over the first month, Arpeggio would learn that the noises associated with vessel traffic in her underwater world were both loud and constant.
At the end of February, Limpet started north to the feeding grounds, with Arpeggio tucked in beside her - it was the calf’s first big swim. Their destination was Cape Cod Bay, a rich springtime feeding ground for right whales. Mother right whales do not feed in the calving grounds, and since they have been metabolically converting their blubber into milk for the insatiable youngsters over several months, they need to replenish their fat stores. But the journey north was challenging, crossing shipping channels at Savannah, Wilmington, Charleston, and Norfolk; the entrances to Chesapeake and Delaware Bays; and then the entrances to the ports of Newark and New York, Providence and Boston. In addition, as the pair rounded Cape Hatteras, they started to encounter fishing gear in the water column: crab traps, lobster pots, and gillnets, all in increasing densities as they traveled into northern waters.
All this time, Limpet and Arpeggio were downwind of the smells of civilization, including power plants, traffic jams, manufacturing facilities, and fast-food restaurants. They also swam through a near-shore mix of outflows from hog farms in the Carolinas, secondary treatment sewage effluent from big cities, and rainwater runoff from storm drains that collect dripped oil from road surfaces. The pair passed across river mouths draining fertilizer and pesticide residues from the agricultural areas of the heartland, some of which eventually dump into the Atlantic. They swam through water containing plasticizers from the toy and bottle industries, pharmaceuticals that pass unused through humans, chemicals from bottom paint on ships, and hormones from birth control pills excreted in sewage.
In late March both whales reached Cape Cod Bay, and Limpet started feeding, straining mouthfuls of copepods from just under the surface of the water, frequently within sight of land. Arpeggio began to learn how to mimic her mother, opening her mouth and trying to find food herself. Although she would not be weaned for another six or seven months, she was beginning to learn the skills she would need to survive on her own. But feeding brings another set of challenges, and the urban ocean does not end at Cape Cod Bay.
In the following months both right whales would ingest small bits of plastic, including a piece of tape, a remnant of monofilament fishing line, a rubber band, and a shredded piece of plastic bag. While feeding, both right whales would also be exposed to marine bio toxins from a red tide outbreak in the Bay of Fundy, protozoa from unknown sources, and pesticide residues from forestry spraying runoff in Maine and New Brunswick. Arpeggio would learn about courtship, that most important feature of a right whale’s life, and about the sounds that other right whales make and what sounds mean. Sometimes ship noise would make it difficult to hear other whales, but these masking events were temporary. Arpeggio got herself briefly entangled in some fishing gear, which is much more densely packed in the Gulf of Maine than anywhere else, but she escaped without serious harm. She encountered whale watching boats, research boats, oil tankers, and ferries.
Aside from the risks of catastrophic death from an encounter with a ship or a piece of rope, what does it mean for a right whale to live in an urbanized ocean?
The encounters of a right whale calf named Arpeggio during her first year.
By Scott D. Kraus & Rosalind M. Rolland; Right Whales in the Urban Ocean
Arpeggio (Eg#2753) was born near the border of Georgia and Florida, probably within 32 km of shore in early January 1997. Her first breath was downwind of two paper mills on shore that provide paper bags and boxes for grocery stores all over the country. Her mother, named Limpet (Eg#1153), spent several hours in the first week shepherding her newborn out of the way of three container ships, a Trident submarine, a navy frigate, a tug and barge, a dredge en route to an offshore dump site, numerous recreational fishing vessels, an oil tanker, and several shrimp boats. Over the first month, Arpeggio would learn that the noises associated with vessel traffic in her underwater world were both loud and constant.
At the end of February, Limpet started north to the feeding grounds, with Arpeggio tucked in beside her - it was the calf’s first big swim. Their destination was Cape Cod Bay, a rich springtime feeding ground for right whales. Mother right whales do not feed in the calving grounds, and since they have been metabolically converting their blubber into milk for the insatiable youngsters over several months, they need to replenish their fat stores. But the journey north was challenging, crossing shipping channels at Savannah, Wilmington, Charleston, and Norfolk; the entrances to Chesapeake and Delaware Bays; and then the entrances to the ports of Newark and New York, Providence and Boston. In addition, as the pair rounded Cape Hatteras, they started to encounter fishing gear in the water column: crab traps, lobster pots, and gillnets, all in increasing densities as they traveled into northern waters.
All this time, Limpet and Arpeggio were downwind of the smells of civilization, including power plants, traffic jams, manufacturing facilities, and fast-food restaurants. They also swam through a near-shore mix of outflows from hog farms in the Carolinas, secondary treatment sewage effluent from big cities, and rainwater runoff from storm drains that collect dripped oil from road surfaces. The pair passed across river mouths draining fertilizer and pesticide residues from the agricultural areas of the heartland, some of which eventually dump into the Atlantic. They swam through water containing plasticizers from the toy and bottle industries, pharmaceuticals that pass unused through humans, chemicals from bottom paint on ships, and hormones from birth control pills excreted in sewage.
In late March both whales reached Cape Cod Bay, and Limpet started feeding, straining mouthfuls of copepods from just under the surface of the water, frequently within sight of land. Arpeggio began to learn how to mimic her mother, opening her mouth and trying to find food herself. Although she would not be weaned for another six or seven months, she was beginning to learn the skills she would need to survive on her own. But feeding brings another set of challenges, and the urban ocean does not end at Cape Cod Bay.
In the following months both right whales would ingest small bits of plastic, including a piece of tape, a remnant of monofilament fishing line, a rubber band, and a shredded piece of plastic bag. While feeding, both right whales would also be exposed to marine bio toxins from a red tide outbreak in the Bay of Fundy, protozoa from unknown sources, and pesticide residues from forestry spraying runoff in Maine and New Brunswick. Arpeggio would learn about courtship, that most important feature of a right whale’s life, and about the sounds that other right whales make and what sounds mean. Sometimes ship noise would make it difficult to hear other whales, but these masking events were temporary. Arpeggio got herself briefly entangled in some fishing gear, which is much more densely packed in the Gulf of Maine than anywhere else, but she escaped without serious harm. She encountered whale watching boats, research boats, oil tankers, and ferries.
Aside from the risks of catastrophic death from an encounter with a ship or a piece of rope, what does it mean for a right whale to live in an urbanized ocean?