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The northern right whale, decimated by 19th century whalers, is threatened in the 21st century by ship strikes, fishing nets and loss of their habitat. Only about 350 northern right whales exist today despite more than 60 years of protection.

To help preserve this ancient species, a team of scientists from the New England Aquarium and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), aboard the Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary vessel, the R/V Jane Yarn, are using VHF radio telemetry tags to learn more about the behavior of North Atlantic right whales in the southeastern U.S. coastal waters.

The northern right whale has been hunted for more than eight centuries. As far back as the 12th century, the Basques in northern Spain posted spotters on watchtowers along the seashore to signal whalers who then launched themselves in rowboats to hunt down and kill with hand-held harpoons any whale sighted. The hunt resulted in valuable whale bone and oils for trade.

Today, spotters still are posted to signal waiting boats, but the watchmen are in airplanes instead of towers and the boat crews are scientific researchers, not hunters. They seek to increase human knowledge and find a means to protect the once hunted and now endangered animals.

Northern Right Whale tagging

Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary and the New England Aquarium study the migrating northern right whales, following them through satellite data. The southeastern coast of the United States is the southern most range of the northern right whales' habitat. The whales go there for the calving season.

The huge animals migrate great distances and spend a great deal of time in the ocean depths. That makes them especially hard to track.

The satellite system makes long-time, long-distance tracking possible. The scientists use dart-like satellite transmitters to tag large, mature whales. The transmitters include recorders which monitor whale movements.

Data from an individual whale is transmitted to a satellite orbiting overhead. That information then is radioed on to scientists on the ground. They use the data to identify behavior patterns of mothers during the calving season. It also reveals where non-pregnant females and males go during the winter. The information helps them identify habitat use off the Southeastern United States coast.

Locating a whale

To locate a whale for tagging, airplane pilots fly over coastal waters. A whale can be identified by distinctive tail scars and by unique cornified skin patches called calosities found on the head.

When they spot a whale, the airplane sighters radio its location to a Gray's Reef boat on the water. The boat motors to the longitude and latitude coordinates reported from the airplane. Scientists aboard the boat observe the whale's behavior from a distance to see if it is a good candidate for tagging.

If the whale is approved for tagging, an small inflatable boat is used to approach the whale quietly. When the whale is within range, a crossbow is used to implant the tag -- the data recorder and satellite transmitter -- into a layer of fat or blubber on the whale. Whenever it is exposed to air, the tag transmits a signal every 35 to 45 seconds.

The signal from the tag is received by an Argos satellite when it is within range overhead. The location data from the whale is sent on by the satellite to a receiving station on land. Tracking accuracy is determined by the number of transmissions received and used to calculate the data.

The tagging project is limited by the low numbers of northern right whales, the vastness of their ocean habitat, the problems deploying tags, the short battery life of the transmitters, and the high cost of satellite telemetry studies. Even so, scientists are gaining valuable insight into whale health, genetics and migration behavior.

Blubber and skin samples

By the way, while they are tagging the whale, the scientists also use a crossbow dart to fill a small cylinder with blubber and skin sample. Scientists have observed repeatedly that the darts don't hurt the whales or change their behavior.

Blubber samples are analyzed for chemical pollutants such as PCBs and DDT which might be hurt whales. Skin samples are used for DNA sequencing to provide genetic information for future reference on the declining population.

Genetic studies have indicated that historical declines in whale populations resulted in a breeding population stemming from only three maternal lines. The studies showed that all whales living today descended from only three females.

What we know now

Northern right whales congregate in five locations around the world -- the coasts of Georgia and Florida, Stellwagen Bank and Cape Cod Bay, the Great South Channel east of Cape Cod Bay, the Bay of Fundy, and the Scotian Shelf.

During the winter, pregnant females travel to the warm waters off the Georgia and Florida coasts, the only known northern right whale calving area in the world, to give birth.

In Late February, males and females without calves migrate toward Cape Cod Bay, followed by mothers with newborn calves in early spring.

By May, the whales leave Cape Cod Bay and swim out to feed along the Great South Channel.

In summer and early fall, approximately two thirds of the mother-calf pairs move into the Bay of Fundy to nurse, while the other whales swim to the Scotian shelf where they feed and engage in courtship behavior. Approximately, half of all known females and three-quarters of all known males have been spotted at least once in this region during the fifteen years that researchers have studied the whales.

Collisions with ships

Northern right whales swim slowly and spend a considerable amount of time at the surface. They skim the water to feed and rest. Their migration routes cross well used shipping lanes, putting them in the path of large vessels, which makes them highly susceptible to collision with passing ships.

NOAA's National Right Whale Recovery Team finds the largest risk to the endangered northern right whale to be collision with ships. The Southeast U.S. Implementation Team for the Recovery of the Northern Right Whale, which coordinates right whale recovery activities, has an early warning system. It uses the airplane surveys with radio warnings to offshore vessels to decrease ship strikes. Those are the same aerial surveys that provide sightingsfor satellite tagging.

In addition, volunteer observers trained by the Marine Resources Council watch for right whales from vantage points on beachfront condominiums, hotels, lifeguard stations and other highrise structures along the coast. Sightings are reported to the Volunteer Northern Right Whale Monitoring Hotline from which they are relayed to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, which then verifies the information by airplane. The whale's position then is radioed to nearby ships and ports to prevent ship collisions.

The Marine Mammal Stranding Network comes to the aid of injured right whales found along the coast. When dead whales are found, autopsies identify the cause to understand the impact of humans on the whales.

SOURCES: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary, New England Aquarium, Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, Marine Resources Council, and Space Satellite Handbook.

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