Surveillance, Monitoring, and Management of
North Atlantic Right Whales in Cape Cod Bay
and Adjacent Waters - 2003

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Executive Summary

In 2003, the right whale surveillance program for the Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF), Commonwealth of Massachusetts was conducted in Cape Cod Bay and adjacent waters by the right whale research team at the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies (PCCS) from 1 January through mid May. The program included bi-weekly aerial surveys, weekly habitat sampling and collaboration with researchers at Cornell University on passive acoustic sampling with bottom-mounted hydrophones deployed throughout the season from 21 November through 21 May.
The right whale research team was ready to survey for 135 days between 1 January and 15 May 2003. The period of time right whales were known to be present in Cape Cod Bay, as determined by visual means from the aerial and vessel programs combined, was 102 days from 18 January through 30 April. There was a gap of 46 days from 10 February through 28 March when no right whales were seen during nine surveys of Cape Cod Bay, although they were observed off the eastern shore of Cape Cod. Right whales were seen again in Cape Cod Bay on 7 April through 30 April.

After the completion of the season it was possible to compare the visual and acoustic records. The hydrophone system was recording calls for 175 days. The first vocalization was heard on 23 November in the southern part of the Bay; no calls were heard after 4 May. Vocalization rates from hydrophone recordings were very low during this period of apparent absence from the Bay, which also coincided with the lowest plankton concentrations of the season as determined from net tows during habitat sampling. Thus, the period of time right whales were in Cape Cod Bay as determined during post-season analysis of passive acoustic data was 162 days from 23 November through 4 May.

There were a total of 254 sightings of right whales from both the aerial and vessel platforms, of which 224 right whales were photographed and analyzed for this report. Of those 224, 75 were from Cape Cod Bay and 149 were from waters along the outer coast of Cape Cod. To date, of those 224 photographed sightings, 126 of 224 (56%) have been matched to 72 known right whales. These results are preliminary because most of the matches have yet to receive final confirmation. There were a minimum of 27 different right whales identified in Cape Cod Bay, and 54 outside of Cape Cod Bay. The area totals are greater than the total number of identified right whales because nine whales were seen both in Cape Cod Bay and in one of the areas outside the Bay. Photo analysis is still underway to match the remainder; the number of right whale identifications for Cape Cod Bay is expected to increase by 22 animals, and outside Cape Cod Bay by 27 animals for estimated area totals of 49 and 81 right whales respectively.

All sightings were reported upon completion of each survey to the NOAA Fisheries Sighting Advisory System (SAS) and the US Army Corps of Engineers Cape Cod Canal Field Station. These aerial and vessel surveys are the principal source of right whale sightings for NOAA Fisheries/SAS in the winter months through March for waters in the northeast north of latitude 41°N. Two additional conservation measures were implemented in 2003. NOAA Fisheries, Northeast Regional Office implemented a voluntary Dynamic Area Management action on 10 April based on aerial sightings of an aggregation of right whales east of Chatham. The DMF issued an advisory to mariners extending the fishing gear modifications for nine days beyond 30 April and a request for boaters to slow down and post a lookout when traveling in Cape Cod Bay.

The close relationship between the four measures of food richness and the presence of right whales, as documented in the aircraft surveys and the acoustic monitoring program, demonstrates the value that zooplankton sampling has in the development of a coherent strategy for managing the Cape Cod Bay Critical Habitat. Both at bay-wide and at smaller scales, the density of calanoid copepods clearly is reflected in the distributional patterns of the whales. Thus, we have demonstrated that the measures of zooplankton can be used to confirm the likely presence or absence of right whales and the prediction of their occurrence. The aircraft and acoustic surveys applied during the 2003 studies, while providing snap shot visual and acoustic assessments of whale presence respectively, cannot offer the predictive capacity available from zooplankton assessment. Therefore, the assessment of food resource is a significant contribution to the ability of managers to develop conservation plans in a timely fashion.

The results of the 2003 zooplankton assessment program resulted in the development of techniques and reporting procedures that will allow the wide dissemination of the predictive instruments needed to direct management actions. We recommend that future efforts to assess the habitat coupled with survey studies be directed at further verifying the close relationship between whale occurrence and patterns of zooplankton density and distribution in Cape Cod Bay. We also recommend that these techniques be expanded, when possible, to nearby waters when right whales aggregate outside of the critical habitat to test if the hypotheses formulated in Cape Cod Bay have a broader application.

The presence of right whales in adjacent waters outside of the Cape Cod Bay Critical Habitat in 2003 and in past years suggests that a re-evaluation of the area protected by Critical Habitat designation in Cape Cod Bay and the Great South Channel is needed and timely to adequately reflect the seasonal residency, distribution and movements of right whales. The use of these areas has only come to light with the expanded survey efforts of the last six years, and many of the locations where right whales have been seen are in areas between the two critical habitats. Since these areas are used for fishing activity and are transected by a major shipping lane between Boston and New York, we recommend that the data collected over the last six years be evaluated to determine if the concentrations and seasonality of right whale use in this region warrant greater protection.

It has been without a doubt a pleasure and a privilege to work on right whale conservation with the state biologists from the Division of Marine Fisheries. This program is the most comprehensive research effort on right whales in any of their habitat areas along the east coast of the US and Canada. The data collected from research efforts over the last six years has resulted in management measures that will help foster the recovery of this endangered species. The flexibility of the program has encouraged new hypotheses about right whale habitat use and given researchers a unique opportunity to explore and test those hypotheses in the field. Many challenges remain, but there is hope that solutions can be developed, tested and implemented that will make a difference for right whales.