Fenway and her calf have arrived in the Gulf of St, Lawrence, Canada!
Endangered North Atlantic right whales often spend time feeding in the waters off New England each spring. After Fenway and her calf left the calving grounds in the Southeast we expected to spot them in one of our survey areas. But if Fenway and her calf did visit New England, they went undetected by all the aerial and vessel survey teams in our region—our Science Center, Center for Coastal Studies, New England Aquarium, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
We were excited to hear of their arrival in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, sighted by our colleagues at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada Science Aerial Survey Team on May 31. Fenway and her calf were some of the first whales the team documented this season. The Gulf of St. Lawrence is an important feeding area for around 40 percent of the population. Right whales usually feed here from May through November.
We collaborate with our Canadian colleagues and track right whales as they move throughout their range. We focus our survey efforts in the Gulf of St. Lawrence each spring as it’s more practical to take photos and monitor them in an area they’re spending a lot of time.
We conducted our first survey on June 4 aboard NOAA’s Twin Otter plane and found a group of 20 right whales. Fenway and the calf were there! The calf was repeatedly diving under mom, suggesting it was nursing. Fenway is apparently a good mom—the calf looks very healthy and fat!
We saw Fenway and her calf again on our survey on June 6. They were feeding in an aggregation of right whales not far from where we last saw them. Fenway and her calf will likely spend the summer feeding in the Gulf of St Lawrence. It’s great to see Fenway’s journey come full circle as she has returned to the area with her calf. The photographs we’ve collected will help us track her calf and we look forward to seeing her and her calf’s future journeys.
