3 days ago
Atlantic marine monument survey finds rare whale with calf
A recent survey of the only Atlantic coast marine national monument revealed the vast area off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, is flourishing with marine mammals, including federally protected fin whales and sperm whales, according to the New England Aquarium, which conducted the survey last month.
In total, researchers spotted more than 1,000 marine animals in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, a roughly 5,000-square-mile protected area 130 miles off Cape Cod, including a 'a rich variety of other whales, dolphins and rays,' according to a release from the aquarium.
Kate Laemmle, an assistant research scientist at the aquarium's Anderson Cabot Research Center who participated in the survey, said it was a 'rare occurrence' to see the federally endangered female fin whale with a calf. Fin whales are the second largest whale species in the ocean, according to NOAA, and are highly vulnerable to ship strikes. There are thought to be fewer than 8,000 fin whales off the Canadian and U.S. Atlantic coasts.
Advertisement
'It reinforces that the long-term health of our oceans depends on protecting these unique habitats and the endangered species that depend on them,' Laemmle said in an interview.
