September 2000 NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE (Eubalaena glacialis): Western North Atlantic Stock
Individu als of the western North Atlantic right whale popu lation range from wintering and calving grounds in coastal waters of the southeastern United States to summer feeding and nursery grounds in New England waters and northward to the Bay of Fund y and the Scotian Shelf. Knowlton et al. (1992)...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.294.8491 http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pdfs/sars/ao2000whnr-w.pdf |
| Summary: | Individu als of the western North Atlantic right whale popu lation range from wintering and calving grounds in coastal waters of the southeastern United States to summer feeding and nursery grounds in New England waters and northward to the Bay of Fund y and the Scotian Shelf. Knowlton et al. (1992) reported several long-distance movements as far north as Newfoundland, the Labrador Basin, and southeast of Greenland; in addition, recent resightings of photog raphically identified individuals have been mad e off Icelan d and arctic Norw ay. The latter (in September 1999) represents one of only two sightings this century of a right whale in Norwegian waters, and the first since 1926. Together, these long-range matches indicate an extended range for at least some individuals and perhaps the existence of important habitat are as not presently well described. Similarly, records from the Gulf of Mexico (Moore and Clark 1963; Schmidly et al. 1972) represent either geographic anomalies or a more extensive historic range beyond the sole known calving and wintering ground in the waters of the southeastern United States. Whatever the case, the location of a large segment of the population is unknown during the winter. A small offshore survey effort in February 1996 reported three sightings in waters east of northeastern Florida and southeastern Georgia: a mother/calf pair, a single individual, and a group of four juveniles. These sightings suggest a d istribution further offshore than p reviously reported. Research results to date suggest five major habitats or congregation areas for western North Atlantic right |
|---|