Scotian Shelf right whale aerial survey project July 18-30, 2014

• Main Authors: Cole, Timothy V. N., Henry, Allison
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, Northeast Fisheries Science Center 2015
• Subjects: Right whales > Research > Northeastern States > Statistics.; Aerial surveys > Atlantic Coast North America; Whale stock management > Atlantic Coast North America; Canada; North Atlantic; North Atlantic right whale
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.7289/v5mk69vr; https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/4977

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) funding and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) collaboration provided the opportunity for the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) right whale aerial survey team to follow right whales into Canadian waters after completing surveys in the waters off the Northeast United States. We completed eight flights in several areas of the Scotian Shelf during July 18- 30, 2014 , under SARA Section 73 Permit # 330996. From a Twin Otter flying at 230m and 100 knots, two observers scanned the ocean surface for megafauna for a total of 22 hours and 16 minutes of visual effort. Eleven right whales were sighted and photographed for individual identification. One was previously injured and is on a list of whales whose health status is being monitored (Right Whale Catalog #1203). Right whale sighting details are provided in Table 1. Table 2 provides the numbers of other megafauna species recorded on each flight. Table 3 provides flight log notes. Table 4 lists the project's participants. Figures 1 - 5 show completed track lines and locations of sightings. The images taken of right whales have been submitted to the North Atlantic Right Whale Catalog at the New England Aquarium in Boston, MA , for individual identification. Copies of the survey data and right whale images are available from Tim Cole.