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Your involvement and support are vital to the Center's efforts to conserve endangered whales and marine ecosystems.
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| Thursday, October 13, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: PCCS Awarded Grant by the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission to Study Right Whale Food Supply and Habitat on Jeffreys Ledge(Provincetown, Cape Cod, MA) - The Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies (PCCS) begins field research this month on Jeffreys Ledge - east and north of Cape Ann - to study right whale food and habitat under a grant from the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission.Senior Scientist Charles "Stormy" Mayo, director of right whale habitat studies, says the grant is an "important step for PCCS to contribute to improved understanding and management for this endangered species." This effort is a logical extension of the Cape Cod Bay Studies PCCS conducts with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. The Cape Cod Bay program is funded through state and federal funds and is the basis of the Massachusetts Conservation Program: from January through May scientists and researchers check on population density of right whales by aerial survey and sample and analyze zooplankton, the chief food of right whales, from aboard the Center's R/V Shearwater. "The work will focus on developing methods for assessing the quality of the Jeffreys Ledge system using methods developed in Cape Cod Bay," adds Mayo. Data collected at sea aboard the R/V Shearwater will help determine how policymakers and resource managers could manage the area to help conserve the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) of which fewer than 350 remain. The field research will be conducted in collaboration with The Whale Center of New England (WCNE,) a non-profit research and conservation organization founded in 1979 and based in Gloucester, Mass. "We are very excited to bring the expertise of PCCS into our understanding of this newly-discovered habitat, and look forward to a close collaboration," said Mason Weinrich, WCNE executive director and chief scientist, who began studying right whales on Jeffreys Ledge two years ago. Jeffreys Ledge is a complex ecosystem off Rockport, Mass., stretching to just southeast of Cape Elizabeth, Maine. Its unique geology carved by glaciers supports diverse marine life, though the area carries minimal federal protection. Only part of its 33-mile area - its southeastern third - falls within the protective embrace of Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. *** The Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies is dedicated to protecting marine mammals and coastal ecosystems through public education, scientific research, and conservation programs. Since its founding in 1976, the private, non-profit has become internationally renowned for its whale research and rescue programs, and is a leading authority for science-based resource management policies in Massachusetts.# # # PCCS Contacts:Theresa M. Barbo Director of Communications Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies (508) 487-3622 x103 (office) (774) 353-8034 (mobile) ccsmedia@coastalstudies.org
Stormy Mayo
WCNE Contact | ||
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