Marine biologists spot rare blue whales off Massachusetts coast
As if soaring above the bright blue ocean wasn’t spectacular enough, the New England Aquarium’s aerial survey team recently spotted two blue whales — a little already blue, according to the aquarium’s clever social media post.
The first sighting occurred on February 27, when scientists at the Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life spotted a blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus). The giant whale was swimming in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, a marine sanctuary off the coast of Nantucket. The second sighting was of two more blue whales and took place just 24 hours later. The team was flying over southern New England waters and spotted them 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard.
“Seeing blue whales outside of their Canadian feeding grounds is rare in the Atlantic,” Katherine McKenna, associate research scientist at the New England Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life, said in a statement. “Finding them in two different areas of the ocean, just 24 hours apart, was a first for us.”
Blue whales are the largest animals to have ever existed on Earth and they exist in every major ocean except the Arctic. Commercial whaling activities have significantly reduced their population: the species is listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.
Researchers don’t know much about the Northwest Atlantic blue whale population and hypothesize that it may number only 400 to 600 whales. Fortunately, the global number of blue whales is increasing.
“Aerial surveys are critically important for studying highly migratory species such as whales, sea turtles and sharks, which can range over large areas of the ocean,” says McKenna, who participated in both surveys. Popular science. “These surveys help scientists estimate population sizes, determine where and when species are present, and monitor the health of individuals. »
The blue whales were spotted following the latest round of commercial fishing in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. Last month, the Trump administration lifted a ban on commercial fishing activities there.
“This monument is home to amazing species from the seafloor to the sea surface, and we see evidence of that during every aerial survey,” said Jessica Redfern, associate vice president of ocean conservation science also at the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life, in a statement released ahead of the new blue whale sightings. “Removing protections from the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument puts these species at risk. »
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