The Right Whale, too leave ALONE or at least watch from a distance!

Thank you for returning for the next edition of Marine Recovery Plan blogs! If you would like to read our previous blogs, you can visit the following links:

• The Codfather
• Baby Beluga in the Deep Blue Sea
• Northern Wolffish
• Banded Killifish
• American Eel
• Marine Recovery Plans

 

Right Whale (retrieved from: http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/news/photos/2012/03/27/li-ns-whales.jpg)

           The Right whale has a very special place among whales in that it was actually the first whale commercially hunted. In fact interestingly enough they received their name because they were considered the “right” whale to hunt. They often swam close to shore, were very slow, and floated after being killed. Thus it only took a few hands to row out in a dory and harpoon one of these great behemoths. And thus like most things in life that were easy to harvest and brought a return, as humans we did what we do best, we killed a lot of them. We took so many from the sea in fact, that by the late 1800’s they were all nearly extinct.

            Seeing one of these great animals would be an incredible sight (although rare, only about 400 remain). Right whales have an enormous head that takes up nearly a quarter of the length of its body (which is black). In front of the Whales blowhole you will see the most distinguishing characteristic of any whale: callosities. These callosities are crusty white, orange, yellowish, pink lumps that to be honest look like large scars on the face of the animal. Each whale has a distinct set of callosities that scientists document and use to identify individuals. Also if you are ever out to sea and you witness a whale’s sprout which is in the shape of a V you can be rest assured that this is most defiantly a Right whale, as this is also one of their defining characteristics.

Right Whale Breaching (retrieved from: http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/species-especes/species-especes/rightwhaleNA-baleinenoireAN-eng.htm)

             

            So is the Right Whale all but lost? No one is really certain at this point, their numbers are obviously frighteningly low, and genetic variation is a concern. However it is believed that they may still be able to recover.  However what is known for certain is this whale produces a fluctuating number of calf’s every year, thus it is really hard to pin point where the population will be in the future. Although we have not hunted them for a long time the whale’s biggest threat is still undoubtedly the ever dangerous homosapien. Their list of threats include: boat collisions, exposure to oil spills, entanglement in fishing gear, and underwater noise and pollution. 

            So what are we doing to help combat these threats, well the North Atlantic right whale is currently listed as endangered and is protected under the Species at Risk Act (SARA). As well the government currently has a recovery plan in place, they have re-routed the shipping lanes in the Bay of Fundy to accommodate the whales, and also many groups partake in disentangling whales from nets in order to save them. 

            Just recently the federal government proposed a 100-metre whale watching buffer zone. This is important legislation, as the degree of noise and how generally close some whale watching boats get is very dangerous for the animal. Even disturbing their feeding habits can have dire consequences for the future of this species. The Majority of whale watching operators in Newfoundland for instance already abide by a self administered rule as they will often never approach a whale, yet will turn their engines off and wait to see if the whale approaches them. However it is said that it is not unusual for up to 50 vessels to surround whales in British Columbia and Quebec! If you want to read this new story, just click the cbc.ca link below. 

            I’ve been on several whale tours in Newfoundland and I have to say that the operators really respected the animals. This is really important as if you were to ever come across the very rare Right Whale you would want to do everything in your power to not disturb it. It’s nice to know the majority of operators around here have the respect for the animal and now it’s potentially going to become a piece of federal legislation.

Links:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2012/03/27/ns-dfo-whale-watching-rules.html

http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/species-especes/species-especes/rightwhaleNA-baleinenoireAN-eng.htm