November 25, 2013 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
As survey flights resume for the 2013-2014 North Atlantic right whale season, members of the aerial survey team at the Woods Hole Laboratory of NOAA's Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) wonder what this survey season will bring. More right whale sightings than last year, or fewer? And where?
"Something has definitely changed," said Tim Cole, a member of the aerial team. "There has been a dramatic shift in the numbers of right whales we are seeing. This has happened before, about 15 years ago, but the recent change is still striking. Everyone is asking "Where did the right whales go?"
A look at the sightings data from the past two seasons shows the rollercoaster of right whale sightings Cole is referring to. With nearly the same number of surveys and area covered in the same time frame, it is hard to explain what is going on.
Using one of NOAA's DHC-6 Twin Otter turboprop aircraft, the team conducted aerial surveys for North Atlantic right whales from November 2012 through July 2013. Only 50 right whale sightings were made, including repeated sightings of individual animals. The maximum number of whales sighted in a group or aggregation was 6. Just a year earlier, between November 2011 and July 2012, the survey team recorded 419 right whale sightings, including repeats of individuals, with a maximum aggregation size of 36.
The number of surveys and overall survey effort between the past two years were nearly identical, so the difference in sightings between one year and the next is significant, said Cole. "We cover a broad region, over 70,000 square nautical miles, but we focus on specific areas where right whales are most likely to be found. In November, December, and early January, sightings often occur in the central Gulf of Maine. During April through July, we find many right whales in the Great South Channel and in the southern Gulf of Maine."
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