On May 5, 2012, the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies (PCCS), the Cape Cod Cooperative Extension/Woods Hole Sea Grant (CCCE/WHSG) and the Shellfish Departments of Provincetown and Truro, with support from the Cape Cod Economic Development Council, will offer a workshop on "Economically and Environmentally Sustainable Subtidal Shellfish Aquaculture Techniques."

The event will include presentations by local shellfish growers, scientists, and town and state officials on a variety of topics including subtidal shellfish culture techniques, shellfish aquaculture management, economics and marketing, preventing marine animal entanglement, food safety/health, and scientific research.

This workshop is free and open to all, but is particularly relevant to prospective shellfish growers hoping to pursue shellfish aquaculture in the new community Provincetown-Truro Aquaculture Development Area (ADA) and to individuals who want to learn more about sustainable subtidal aquaculture techniques.

Subtidal (below the low tide line) aquaculture differs from the more common intertidal methods used on Cape Cod, as it is conducted in deeper water (approximately 20 feet) and poses unique challenges due to the need to access shellfish stock in deeper water via floating cages, diving, or other means.

The response team pulls itself up the entanglement to assess the condition of the humpback whale anchored in gear off Mount Desert Island, Maine. PCCS Image taken under NOAA Permit #932-1905.

The Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies (PCCS) marine animal entanglement response (MAER) team, in partnership with the Maine Marine Patrol and the National Marine Fisheries, disentangled a humpback whale yesterday (April 11, 2012) offshore of Mount Desert Island, Maine. The whale was heavily entangled and had been anchored in place by gear for at least three days before being reported to authorities by local fishermen.

The disentanglement team was able to remove all the gear during a 4-hour operation, and although the whale was very thin and had extensive wounds from its entanglement, it swam off quickly, giving the team hope that it would soon begin feeding and start the healing process.

The whale was disentangled using tools and techniques developed by Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies. In this case, the team attached large buoys to the entanglement to release the strain of the multiple sets of heavy gear beneath the whale. While the team could not fully raise this gear, the slack produced by the buoys allowed the whale to spend more time near the surface. Working from a small inflatable boat the team, which included responders from Maine Marine Patrol (MMP) and National Marine Fisheries, used a twenty-foot pole and hook-shaped knife to selectively cut away rope that was lodged in the mouth of the whale and wrapped around its flippers and flukes. Once a series of cuts were made, the weight of the gear began to pull the entanglement from the animal. Eventually the whale rolled violently, shaking loose all of the entangling gear. ...more

Entangled North Atlantic right whale # 3821. PCCS Image taken under NOAA Permit #932-1905.

Researchers from the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies (PCCS) aerial survey team are reporting an aggregation of North Atlantic right whales very close to the beach at Sandy Neck in Barnstable. A group of about 25 animals is clearly visible from the shore.

Whales are also visible from the beach at Herring Cove and Race Point in Provincetown, and were recently spotted off Sandwich and Plymouth.

This phenomenon represents a rare and early opportunity to view one of the world's most endangered animals at relatively close range, as State and Federal regulation prevent the whale-watch and other boats from approaching a right whale within a 500 yard (1500 ft) buffer zone. ...more

Entangled North Atlantic right whale # 3821. PCCS Image taken under NOAA Permit #932-1905.

A rare North Atlantic right whale was freed from entanglement today by the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies’ (PCCS) Marine Animal Entanglement Response (MAER) team.

The whale was sighted by the MAER team during a dedicated search. The whale had line looped over the head and through the mouth. The team used a thirty foot pole and hook shaped knife to cut the loop. The whale will likely shed the remaining line in the mouth over time. The disentanglement today was only a mile away from where this whale was disentangled from a different set of gear in 2009. The whale is a young male identified as 3821. ...more

Right whale breaching in Cape Cod Bay.

The first confirmed sighting of North Atlantic right whales in Cape Cod Bay was recorded on Thursday, December 15th by Charles "Stormy" Mayo, Director of Right Whale Habitat Studies at the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies. The two to three whales were spotted in Provincetown Harbor, opposite the east end of Provincetown. Mayo remarked that "the whales were putting on a show the likes of which I've never ever seen except from humpbacks; perhaps 100 breaches, some simultaneous side by side." When not breaching, the whales formed a Surface Active Group (SAG), a type of social behavior between two or more whales that involves frequent body contact, often with whales rolling on their sides or backs. SAGs are thought to play a role in mating; however, because they occur throughout the year, many scientists believe that they have other social functions as well. ...more

Badly entangled flukes of the humpback whale as team members approach to throw a grapple into the entanglement. PCCS image. Taken under NOAA permit 932-1905 with authority of the ESA.

The Marine Animal Entanglement Response Team at the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies disentangled a young humpback whale this morning off Chatham, MA.

Scott Landry, director of the program, said that the operation would not have been possible without the support of local fishermen. "It was like the good old days when fishermen and whale people worked together to solve a tough problem" he said.

Fishermen stood by and assessed the whale until the responders arrived from Provincetown. All line and netting were removed from the whale. "The whale took off quickly once free, contrary to popular belief about whales thanking their rescuers" said teammate Doug Sandilands. ...more

PCCS Marine Animal Entanglement Response team. PCCS image taken under NOAA Fisheries Permit 932-1489

Scientists and whale entanglement experts from many countries gathered this week in Provincetown, Massachusetts for a three-day workshop on welfare issues associated with the entanglement of large whales. Organized by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and hosted by the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies, the workshop met to advance recommendations about large whale entanglements that had initially been put forth at an earlier workshop that was held in Maui, Hawaii in 2010.

Although many hundreds of incidents of whales being entangled in fishing gear are reported each year, researchers estimate that many thousands more are unreported throughout the world's oceans; workshop participants recommended enhancing efforts by all countries to improve monitoring entanglements which, together with ship strikes, are the two majors threats to the healthy recovery of many species of endangered marine mammals ...more