March 3, 2007

Media Release 3.1

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tanya Gabettie

508-237-1920

Critically-Endangered Right Whales Return to Cape Cod Bay

Field Season Underway aboard R/V Shearwater

(Provincetown, Cape Cod, MA) –Seven critically-endangered North Atlantic right whales were sighted in Cape Cod Bay on Tuesday, February 27 – the first known of the research season - by scientists and researchers from the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies (PCCS) aboard the R/V Shearwater.  The animals were engaged in socializing behaviors on the surface.

Additionally, the PCCS right whale Aerial survey team documented 10 right whales in the bay, as the aircraft flew tracks along the eastern and outer shore of the Cape.  Observers also recorded another 18 whales east of Cape Cod, several near the coast of Chatham, and a small group socializing northeast of Truro.

“The first right whale aggregations in Cape Cod Bay so far this year appear to be in stable groups and in larger numbers,” says Dr. Charles “Stormy” Mayo, director of Habitat Studies.  “Such stable aggregations early in the field season mimic conditions we saw in the mid-80’s when food sources were particularly high” he added. Cape Cod Bay is a federal critical habitat and the winter feeding ground for the endangered species, of which fewer than 400 are known to exist.  Through most of May, the PCCS Habitat team will collect samples of zooplankton, the diet staple of right whales, to determine how plentiful the supply is this winter.

Field Seasons for the Center’s Right Whale Habitat and Aerial Survey programs begin January 1 through May 15.  Until recently high winds, rough seas, and poor weather conditions have limited researchers’ visibility.  Since 1998, PCCS has conducted systematic aerial surveys to monitor right whales as part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Right Whale Conservation Plan. These data provide valuable information on the distribution, abundance and population characteristics of right whales in the Bay. PCCS provides data to state and federal agencies managing human activities, such as vessel traffic and fishing, which occur in right whale habitat areas. The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries prohibits gillnet fishing in all of the Cape Cod Bay Critical Habitat from January 1 thru May 15.

PCCS conducts research cruises aboard the R/V Shearwater in winter and spring as part of a right whale monitoring program in Cape Cod Bay and nearby waters funded by the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (MA DMF).  Since 1984, PCCS researchers have studied the dynamics that make Cape Cod Bay a critical habitat for the endangered North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis).  The Bay is the only known habitat area outside of the calving ground where right whales are known to congregate during winter and spring. Though it is illegal to approach within 500 yards of a right whale, PCCS conducts research under a permit issued by NOAA Fisheries Service.

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The Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies was founded in 1976 and is dedicated to researching and protecting marine mammals and marine ecosystems in the Gulf of Maine, through applied research, conservation, environmental and education programs.  Its world-renowned whale disentanglement team operates under a permit from the National Marine Fisheries Service. To learn more about whale disentanglement, and our other programs, visit PCCS on the web at:  www.coastalstudies.org.

PCCS Contacts:

Tanya Gabettie

Communications Coordinator

Mobile: 508-237-1920

Office: 508-487-3622 ext. 103

tgabettie@coastalstudies.org

Charles “Stormy” Mayo, Ph.D.

Director, Right Whale Habitat Studies

Office: 508-487-3263 ext. 110