IN SEARCH OF THE "RIGHT" WHALE

whalE-Mail from Jeff

Hey Gerry,

Only have a minute but wanted to let you know HOW MUCH FUN IT IS to be part of the Team. Let me know what you need and I'll try and come up with it. One of the things that we've been developing up here in the Bering Sea and has worked very well for us is the use of Sono Buoys. They're basically a hydrophone that has directional and transmitting capabilities. We'll drop a couple at low altitudes from the plane about 10 miles apart and then listen in real time to the animal’s vocalizations. We can hear animals vocalizing up to 15 miles away from the buoys and depending on or altitude we can listen to the buoys up to 40 miles away. Once we hear a Right Whale we can triangulate between the buoys and usually can come up with a direction of where the animal may be. It's very cutting edge and pretty cool stuff. Thought you might be interested in this for other dolphin projects. Gotta run! Thanks again and hope to talk to you soon! Cheers, Jeff 

Jeff has been involved in the Right Whale Surveys for the last few years. He works from aircraft, speed boats, and even huge balloons. He has been working on the North Pacific Right Whales which grow up to 18 m long and weigh up to 100 tonnes; the largest of the three Eubalaena Right Whales.

Hey Jeff, is this the ‘right’ one?

They are called "right whales" because whalers preferred them. They were the “right” ones to catch because they floated when killed and were close to shore. Being “right” meant that their populations were decimated over a short time as the result of intensive harvesting.

Dropping Sono Buoys.

Adults today are between 11–18 m long and weigh 60–80 tonnes. The body is extremely stocky measuring about 10 m in circumference for a large animal. The tail fluke is also broad (up to 40% of body length).

 Jeff gets his camera wet.

There are two populations of the North Pacific Right Whale. The population in the eastern North Pacific/Bering Sea is extremely low, and may number under 50 individuals (Jeff’s last count was 17!). A larger western population of 200-300 is found in the Sea of Okhotsk. Because of these extremely low numbers, the two northern right whale species are the most endangered of all the large whale species. Some researchers believe they are the most endangered animals in the world and calculate that their falling numbers will bring about extinction in the 22^nd century.

Estimated numbers (2006):

North Atlantic Right Whales  (North Atlantic)…….....400-450

North Pacific Right Whales  (Eastern North Pacific)…50-100

North Pacific Right Whales  (Sea of Okhotsk)…….…200-300

Right Whale killed by ship’s propeller (Wikipedia).




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THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION; THE BLUE WHALE TRAGEDY

 Blue Whales evolved from the Indohyus, about 50 million years ago. The closest relative today is the hippopotamus. Up until the early 20^th century their numbers would have been fairly stable. The largest population was in the Antarctic, numbering approximately 240,000 (range 202,000 to 311,000).

With the advent of ‘mechanized’ whaling, they were hunted almost to extinction until protected by the international community in 1966. A 2002 report estimated there were only 5,000 to 12,000 Blue Whales worldwide.

Blue Whales tend to live alone or with one other individual but it is not known how long these associations last. Larger feeding groups of 30-50 may form when food is abundant but there does not seem to be the communication typical of a true pod. 

Blue Whale hunting was banned in 1966 but continued illegally in the USSR until the 1970’s. By that time 330,000 Blue Whales had been killed in the Antarctic, 33,000 in the rest of the Southern Hemisphere, 8,200 in the North Pacific, and 7,000 in the North Atlantic. By the time the killing stopped, only about 1 out of every 1000 Blue Whales (0.15%) survived.

Ships carrying whalers are no longer a threat to the Blue Whale but ships carrying cargo are. This summer four were run down by ships further depleting a population that is on the edge of extinction. Ship collisions result from whales and cargo using the same sea lanes for their journeys.

Whale migration:

Blue Whales do a lot of traveling and to better understand how their migrations conflict with shipping, a new generation of scientists is taking to the seas.

Today’s ‘hunters’ attach GPS tags to the Blue Whales to track their positions and record data as they travel. The high-tech devices are attached to the whale in the form of a small harpoon that is imbedded in the blubber.

The GPS tag will only transmit its data above the water when the whale surfaces to take another breath. They spend only about 10% of their time at the surface when they expel a rush of air and spray that can be seen two km away; there she blows!

National Geographic photo used for educational purposes.

Interested in swimming with dolphins? Check out some of the other posts in this blog.


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