Cape Cod Archives - Page 6 of 44

A fear of great whites? Shark center aims to show fact vs. fiction

June 11, 2021 — There’s an 18-foot shark hanging in the air, waiting to greet you at the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy Shark Center the next time you visit.

“Curly” is a life-sized replica of the largest recorded white shark tagged off Cape Cod. It’s one of many new features added to the Shark Center during a “pretty big renovation” that took place in winter 2020, says center manager Heather Ware.

The center is an arm of the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, which has a mission to “support scientific research, improve public safety, and educate the community to inspire white shark conservation.”

But because of COVID-19 concerns, not nearly as many people got to hear that message, or see “Curly” or the rest of the renovation last summer as intended. Typically, the shark center would have had about 17,000 visitors in the summertime. Last year, just over 3,000 came by.

Read the full story at The Providence Journal

Lobstermen And Conservationists To Closely Watch Right Whale Court Case

June 11, 2021 — There are just over 360 right whales left in the world, and the fight is on to save them. Conservationists and fishermen will be closely watching a federal court case closely over the next 12 days.

“Arguably, the existence of the Massachusetts lobster fishery is at stake today,” said Eve Zuckoff, a reporter at GBH’s Cape Cod bureau who joined Henry Santoro on Morning Edition today to talk about the right whale court case.

The case is being pushed by activist Max Strahan, who wants a judge to ban Massachusetts from authorizing fisheries that use vertical ropes that can entangle and kill North Atlantic right whales.

Zuckoff explained that today’s case builds on a judge’s order from last year that gave the state 90 days to get a key federal permit that would increase federal oversight of the lobster industry.

Read the full story at WGBH

NMFS reports right whales increasing use of New England offshore wind areas

May 7, 2021 — Endangered northern right whales that have been arriving earlier in spring and staying longer around Cape Cod have also expanded their presence south and west of Nantucket Shoals, into areas planned for large-scale development of offshore wind power, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Scientists from the NMFS Northeast Fisheries Science Center conducting surveillance flights spotted 57 fight whales March 30 off southeast New England, in and around wind energy areas that have been leased to developers by the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

NMFS officials said those whales included three mother-calf pairs – results from what experts have called the most successful calving season in years for the highly endangered species, with 17 young reported and nine mother-calf pairs sighted in Northeast waters in recent weeks. The entire population was last estimated to number around 366 animals.

Right whales typically appear in Cape Cod Bay during the spring, but in recent years they have been showing up sooner and lingering longer, according to a summary released April 15 by NMFS.

A small portion of the whale population, mostly pregnant females, migrates to waters off Georgia and northern Florida for the winter calving season, according to marine mammal researcher Tim Cole who leads the NEFSC whale survey team.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Massachusetts waters remain closed to lobstermen

May 6, 2021 — The state Division of Marine Fisheries is reminding lobstermen and other trap fishermen that state waters north and east of Cape Cod remain closed to all commercial harvesting because of the continued presence of North Atlantic right whales.

DMF and the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies continue to fly aerial survey flights to gauge the scale of right whale presence in state waters as the imperiled stock continues its northward feeding migration.

The agency said its most recent flight, on April 28, 2021, observed 86 right whales in the waters of northern Cape Cod Bay, southern Massachusetts Bay, and Stellwagen Bank, a fishing ground located about 15 miles southeast of Gloucester to about six miles north of Provincetown.

“Additional surveillance flights are anticipated to occur over the next several days,” DMF stated. “DMF will reevaluate the status of this closure based on the presence or absence of whales. Should observational data demonstrate right whales have migrated out of Massachusetts waters, DMF may lift the trap gear closure prior to May 15.”

Also, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute’s Slocum underwater glider on Sunday acoustically detected the presence of North Atlantic right whales north of Cape Cod and NOAA Fisheries on Monday instituted a voluntary right whale slow zone north of Cape Cod until May 17.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Slow Zone North of Cape Cod to Protect Right Whales

May 3, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries announces a new voluntary right whale Slow Zone. On May 2, 2021, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Slocum glider acoustically detected the presence of right whales north of Cape Cod, MA. This Slow Zone is in effect through May 17, 2021.

Mariners are requested to route around this or transit through it at 10 knots or less.

Slow Zone Coordinates:

North of Cape Cod, MA, May 2, 2021- May 17, 2021

42 40 N
42 00 N
069 40 W
070 34 W

See the coordinates for all the slow zones currently in effect.

Active Seasonal Management Areas

Mandatory speed restrictions of 10 knots or less (50 CFR 224.105) are in effect in the following areas:

Cape Cod Bay, January 1 – May 15

Great South Channel, April 1 – July 31

Find out more and get the coordinates for each mandatory slow speed zone.

Give Right Whales Room

North Atlantic right whales are on the move along the Atlantic coast of the U.S. NOAA is cautioning boaters and fishermen to give these endangered whales plenty of room. We are also asking all fishermen to be vigilant when maneuvering to avoid accidental collisions with whales and remove unused gear from the ocean to help avoid entanglements. Commercial fishermen should use vertical lines with required markings, weak links, and breaking strengths.

Right Whales in Trouble

North Atlantic right whales are protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Scientists estimate there are only about 400 remaining, making them one of the rarest marine mammals in the world.

North Atlantic right whales are NOAA Fisheries’ newest Species in the Spotlight. This initiative is a concerted, agency-wide effort to spotlight and save marine species that are among the most at risk of extinction in the near future.

In August 2017, NOAA Fisheries declared the increase in right whale mortalities an “Unusual Mortality Event,” which helps the agency direct additional scientific and financial resources to investigating, understanding, and reducing the mortalities in partnership with the Marine Mammal Stranding Network, Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and outside experts from the scientific research community.

Read the full release here

5 Fishermen Rescued From Burning Boat Off Cape Cod

May 3, 2021 — Five fishermen were rescued from a burning boat off the Cape Cod waters Friday night.

The Coast Guard responded to an emergency notification from the 100-foot fishing vessel about 85 miles east of Cape Cod around 5p.m.

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, rescue crews arrived on scene to find the bow and wheelhouse of the vessel engulfed in flames and all five fishermen on the stern. An air crew hoisted the fishermen to safety.

Read the full story at NBC New York

MASSACHUSETTS: Right whales in Cape Cod Bay: Nearly 100 spotted as boaters warned to go slow

April 5, 2021 — Almost 100 North Atlantic right whales were spotted in Cape Cod Bay recently as the incredibly rare large mammals return to the region, sparking warnings for boaters to go slow.

As the number of right whales decline overall, there has been a steady increase in whales coming to Cape Cod Bay during the early spring.

“Every year, we have the highest density of right whales seen anywhere,” said Charles Mayo, director of the Center for Coastal Studies’ Right Whale Ecology Program.

“It’s quite an aggregation of whales,” he added. “Mind-blowing concentrations come in now.”

Read the full story at The Boston Herald

MASSACHUSETTS: Nearly 90 endangered right whales spotted off Cape Cod in single day in March; Boaters urged to slow down to avoid injuring endangered animal

March 31, 2021 — The federal government is urging boaters off the coast of Massachusetts to slow down to avoid injuring right whales, as dozens of the endangered mammals were spotted off Cape Cod in a single day earlier this month.

Eighty-nine North Atlantic right whales were sighted in Cape Cod Bay on March 21, the most documented in a single day in the 2021 season, according to the Center for Coastal Studies (CCS), a nonprofit dedicated to preserving marine mammals and ecosystems. That sightings included three mother-calf pairs, the organization noted.

The nonprofit began its day surveying the south of the bay from the air and found a large group of right whales offshore of Sandy Neck. All three mothers were seen feeding near the surface, maintaining contact with their calves nearby, the organization said.

Further north, more groups of right whales were discovered, one of whom, named Marlin, “appeared to be having the time of his life, tail-slapping at the surface,” according to the CCS.

Read the full story at MassLive

Slow Down for Right Whales in Cape Cod Bay

March 26, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Endangered North Atlantic right whales have returned to Massachusetts waters. As of March 21, there were 89 right whales sighted in Cape Cod Bay, including 3 mother-calf pairs.

We encourage vessel operators to slow down to 10 knots or less to avoid deadly collisions with these whales. In some of these waters, speed restriction measures are in place and enforced. Learn more about federal and state speed restrictions and use the Whale Alert App to stay informed about right whale detections and Right Whale Slow Zones.

Active Seasonal Management Areas

Mandatory speed restrictions of 10 knots or less (50 CFR 224.105) are in effect in the following areas:

Cape Cod Bay, January 1 – May 15

Off Race Point, March 1 – April 30

Great South Channel, April 1 – July 31

Find out more and get the coordinates for each mandatory slow speed zone.

Right Whales in Trouble

Read the full release here

MASSACHUSETTS: New right whale protection regs leave Cape Cod fishermen feeling trapped

March 25, 2021 — It’s pretty easy to guess what Jon Tolley does for a living.

His house on the quarter-acre lot is nearly surrounded by gravel, with bright yellow and black fishing traps neatly stacked all around.

Tolley is gearing up for the fishing season, and he was outside at a work station Wednesday, a hoodie his only protection against the cool air of early spring. Tolley is headed for a hip replacement in a month, but that wasn’t his only concern.

New state regulations, the result of a lawsuit seeking to protect highly endangered North Atlantic right whales, require that he fit the buoy lines on all 1,200 of his lobster, conch and black sea bass traps with special sleeves that release under the pressure of an adult whale.

Along with collisions with ships, entanglement in vertical fishing line attaching lobster and other pots to buoys is one of the top causes of right whale mortality.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

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