Reflections on the Summer in the Bay of Fundy

Right whales were hard to find in the Bay of Fundy in the summer of 2012.  Those that were found were often travelling.  Few settled in the Bay for any length of time other than the mother 3390 and her calf.  They were seen for over a month and were the only right whales to remain for any length of time.

Calf of right whale 3390.  The calf opened its mouth and the baleen can be seen hanging down.  Baleen in calves is very light in colour.  Adult baleen colour is much darker.

Why the instability when the Bay of Fundy is a designated critical habitat for North Atlantic right whales?  Right whales come to the Bay of Fundy for many reasons but an important one is the availability of huge patches of zooplankton, primarily copepods.  When in large quantities, these copepods provide enough energy for the whales to add to their blubber layer for winter months when food may be more scarce and they may need to fast, relying on the blubber reserves.

It is important to photo-document young right whales so they can be followed throughout theirs lives. Each right whale has a unique pattern of callosities on its head, rough patches of skin where we have facial hair. This calf's mother, 3390, was not photographed as a calf and we, therefore, do not know when she was born or to whom she is related. 

The copepod patches were sporadic, never seemed to develop into large patches, and also appeared pale in colour, indicating low energy reserves in the copepods.  Why the change from most years when the copepod patches develop in the Grand Manan Basin, the deepest area in the Bay of Fundy?  The 2011-2012 winter was one of very mild temperatures and hardly any snow.  This resulted in very little runoff into the ocean and, therefore, lower nutrient input for phytoplankton.  Warmer winter temperatures and little cold water runoff from snow melt also meant warmer ocean temperatures.  The counter current gyre that sets up each summer in the Grand Manan Basin and accumulates zooplankton, is temperature dependent and may not have occurred where it normally does in 2012.

Right whale stretching after a nap between dives.  This whale was been down to the bottom because of the muddy head.  It is not sure why right whales and also humpback whales rub in the muddy bottom, whether it is for feeding, relieving an itch or as a mud facial!

Warmer water temperatures can result in many changes.  It is a suggestion of why Atlantic herring didn't come inshore, preferring the deeper, colder waters.  There were several sightings of leatherback turtles, the largest sea turtle.  While the occasional sighting is normal in the Bay of Fundy, there did seem to be more this summer, including one that swam up a tidal river.  Unfortunately, the turtle died despite efforts to rescue it when it stranded on the muddy river bank several times.



Small Atlantic herring (brit) leaping out of the water after being pursued by Bluefin Tuna from below and great shearwaters from above.  Herring are a keystone species in the Bay of Fundy, providing food for many species.  They eat copepods as do right whales.

 What do low copepod resources in the Bay of Fundy mean for right whales?  It can affect calving success.  Right whale females need to have a good fat reserve to get pregnant because of the high energy demands of nursing a calf.  This is the reason right whale females take a resting year after weaning their calf so they can adequately recover their blubber reserves.  If the right whales found large patches of zooplankton elsewhere, then calving may not be affected.  In 2010, few right whales were seen in the Bay of Fundy and this past calving season had only seven calves born.  Low resource availability one summer is reflected in calving rates not that year but the following year.

Right whale 3390 and her calf diving in the Bay of Fundy off Grand Manan Island in August 2012.

Still Waiting

We are still waiting to see right whales.  We did have a distant sighting of a possible mother and calf but the pair were not seen again.  On a cruise today to see which whales had been seen in an area typical for right whales, revealed sperm whales instead.



Sperm whale seen in the Bay of Fundy off Grand Manan, July 21, 2012 (Whales-n-Sails Adventures)



With only seven calves born this year (one calf died and the newest discovered mother hasn't been seen in the Bay of Fundy) we don't expect to see many mothers and calves.  The water temperature has been warm so far and we don't know what this will mean for zooplankton accumulation which right whales depend on for their feeding.

The New England Aquarium will begin their surveys in early August and we will have a better idea about right whale occurrence in the Bay of Fundy in 2012.  We will also be conducting zooplankton surveys to determine zooplankton abundance.

Right whales gone from the Bay of Fundy?

On October 28 we did an aerial survey of the Grand Manan Basin where right whales are typically found. I had been out on October 25 by boat covering a small portion of this area as well. On both days, no right whales were seen, even though 20-25 were present close to Grand Manan (approximately 8 to 10 nautical miles) on October 20. That is how quickly things can change. We did see four fin whales and three humpback whales from the plane and three fin whales and three humpbacks from the boat, the latter in a totally different area. One of the humpbacks seen from the air was breaching - the splash is even more impressive from the air, and another was tail lobbing but they were separated by a couple of miles. It is hard not to make the relationship that these whales were possibly communicating with each other by making loud noises.

We have had a lot of wind in the last few weeks which can disperse the zooplankton patches. Right whales have also been showing up in the middle to lower part of the Gulf of Maine so perhaps the whales have started to move to their winter haunts. Aerial surveys will continue for a few more weeks, always dependent on the weather. Strong winds create lots of white caps which makes it more difficult to see whale blows or spouts and also cause a bigger distraction since the search image for a whale from the air is fleeting with little time to make a judgement on whether it is a wave or a whale.

Last year there were right whale remaining into December and some were even seen the end of January but every year is different and the distribution of right whales this summer was definitely not the "norm" which probably reflected a more scattered distribution of zooplankton.

Right whales do sometimes return after leaving the Bay. Their meanderings seem to be part of their lives with sometimes no where in particular to go but a huge ocean to explore, stopping to feed where ever they find dense enough patches of zooplankton.

Hurricane Bill

The Bay of Fundy has been very quiet with most of the effects of Hurricane Bill occurring along the Nova Scotia Atlantic coastline. Offshore the wave heights have been more spectacular with 10 to 13 m (30 to 40 foot) seas. These oceanic conditions are ones that right whales and all other marine mammals must deal with as part of their daily lives. It isn't any wonder why they like to nap at the surface on calm days. Heavy seas invoke higher surfacings, often involving breaching or tail lobbing. Timing breathing is important so the waves aren't crashing over the blowhole on the inhale. However, body surfing is not uncommon.

Seabird enthusiasts often head to the shore after hurricanes to see if strays may turn up that were carried by the storm outside their normal range. Similar events can happen with whales but not necessarily because of direct affect but because of strong wind and currents rearranging the zooplankton patches and fish schools. It is not uncommon for whales to spend more time feeding after a storm rather than socializing, replenishing energy spent during stormy conditions or because prey (food) is more spread out.

It will be interesting to see what has happened in the Bay of Fundy after 3 days of dense fog. The New England Aquarium research team is heading out to Roseway Basin for a right whale survey, delaying their departure because of the hurricane. They are hoping to find more mothers and calves because, although the Bay of Fundy should be full of mothers and calves, the number of pairs has been low given the 39 births. Part of their team will remain in the Bay and continue surveying.

Baldy, Mother of the Year

Photo caption: Mother and calf touching – While on the calving grounds off of Florida and Georgia,, calves and mothers are nuzzling, touching and nudging continually over the first couple months of life in touching displays of maternal affection. Credit: “Taken under a Scientific Research Permit issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service/NOAA.”

Tony LaCasse, Media Relations Director of the New England Aquarium, wrote in their Mother's Day press release:

RIGHT WHALE MOTHER OF THE YEAR
This year’s standout right whale mother has the unflattering name of “Baldy”. She was seen with her 8th calf this season, which ties the known record. She has been giving birth to calves for at least 35 years. Also this winter, she had both daughters and granddaughters also give birth. As of this year, Baldy has been responsible for bringing at least 18 right whales into this world, which is nearly 5% of the entire population! That clearly shows the difference that a single mother can make and how important it is to keep these mothers safe from human-caused hazards including vessel strikes and fishing gear entanglement.

The press release also went on to say:

THE DEDICATION OF RIGHT WHALE MOTHERS

1. The Incredibly Long Swim to the Hospital - Finding a safe place to give birth is a concern for all mothers. Going well beyond the frenzied human drive to a hospital, right whale mothers make a hazardous nearly 1000 mile journey down the East Coast. The maternal strategy is a desire not to have newborn calves burning up valuable calories in cold, northern waters.


2. Big Babies! - Right whales calves at birth are estimated to weigh about 2400 pounds and are commonly more than 13 feet long.


3. Maternal Fasting - Right whale mothers essentially fast for four months while they are at the calving grounds and on the migration each way. Once out of New England waters, their preferred food of animal plankton is too low in density to make feeding worthwhile.


4. Have a Baby, Lose 10,000 Pounds – Even though mothers do not have the opportunity to eat in the birthing waters, calves are still hungry. Females convert body fat in to mother’s milk, and a right whale calf can gain hundreds of pounds in a week. Right whale mothers are literally transferring tons of body weight to their babies. Over the course of a year of nursing, right whale mothers can lose 10 - 30% of their average 50 ton weight or anywhere from 10,000 to 30,000 pounds.

Why have right whale mothers been able to have so many babies in recent times?

Philip Hamilton, a senior whale scientist (at the New England Aquarium) said, “Everything points to the fact that the whales are in good condition physically. Many mothers are giving birth every three years which is ideal, and many young females are growing fast enough to become first time mothers at younger ages. The availability of food is probably the key factor.” Right whales primarily feed on krill-like animal plankton called copepods in New England and eastern Canadian waters.

For decades, North Atlantic right whales have remained among the most endangered whales in the world due in part to their very low reproductive rates. The entire population numbers less than 400 and in 2000 only a single calf was born. However, the recently concluded 2009 calving season saw a record 39 baby right whales born off the Florida and Georgia coasts. The old record of 31 was beaten by more than 25%!

This year’s baby boom is to be celebrated, but North Atlantic right whales still have a very long road to recovery. New England Aquarium whale scientists in Boston have been studying right whales and working toward their protection for more than 30 years.