In loving memory of Slash

It is with great sadness that I must withdraw one of our whales from the symbolic adoption program.  It breaks my heart every time I hear of another dead right whale, particularly when they have become so much as part of the Bay of Fundy summers. 

In the latest Right Whale Research News Volume 20, No. 1, from the New England Aquarium, Marilyn Marx wrote the following:

"There is sad news in the right whale world: The great old whale Slash (Catalog #1303) is dead.  A boat captain discovered her carcass floating off Virginia on March 17, but it was never relocated so we don't know for sure how she died (but shipstrike is suspected).  She was first photographed in 1979, and she was named for her injured right fluke, the result of a shipstrike.  Over the years we saw her with six calves (though she may have had more). She was a protective mother: She rarely came near the boat when she was with a calf: we would see her distinctive flukes lifted in the distance, leading her calf away from potential danger."

Slash (on the left) in a courtship group in the Bay of Fundy, September 15, 2009.  The distinctive white scar on her tail was from a propeller slicing through her tail.  A normal right whale tail is on the right  and the back of another right whale is below. Her 2009 calf was with her in this group.

Her memory will continue with everyone who knew her and her death will be added to the long list of right whales that have died since right whales become valued for their existence, rather than the value of their blubber and baleen.

Drippy-Nose's 2001 calf #3123 seen entangled

The 2001 female calf of Drippy-nose, AKA Sonnet, #3123, was photographed by the Center for Coastal Studies in Provinceton, MA on April 29, 2011.  Recently during analysis of the photos, they realized that the whale had what appeared to be red material near the right side of the mouth or the flipper.  Although the whale had been seen two other times in the previous month, this area of the whale was not observed.  It was very difficult to see the entanglement and the recommendation is to monitor the whale.

This female had her first calf over a year ago.  Calves usually stay with their mothers for a year before separating.  It would have been expected that her calf went its own way this winter.  She was seen by Quoddy Link Marine October 12, 2010 in the Bay of Fundy.  Her calf was Kleenex's fifth grand calf.

Kleenex family grows again with a new grand-calf

2008 calf of Drippy-nose taken August 26, 2008

The analysis of photographs taken by the National Marine Fisheries Service aerial survey team has revealed the 21st right whale mother of this calving season and she is Kleenex's 1981 daughter Drippy-nose, AKA Sonnet (#1123) in the North Atlantic Right Whale Catalogue.  This is Drippy-nose's fifth calf and Kleenex's eighth grand-calf.  Drippy-nose had her last calf in 2008.

Whales moving north

After another successful but eventful calving season, 20 new right whale calves are travelling north with their mothers.  A number of right whales have been seen off the tip of Long Island, NY, and off Cape Cod (Stellwagen and Wilkinson Banks and the Great South Channel) in April.  If these positive trends in calving continue and accidental right whale deaths are limited, the population may reach the 500 mark in the next few years.  The current right whale population number is estimated at 473.

What made the calving season eventful?  Many entangled right whales, whales with propeller scarring from being run over by smaller vessels, an orphaned new born and the death of a right whale that gained public attention when she was sedated and rope removed but because the entenlargement was too severe with many complications, she was unable to recover.

Mother (Insignia #2645) and calf seen in the Bay of Fundy August 7,  2010

We don't expect any mothers and calves for a few months in the Bay of Fundy and hope that the season brings more right whales than in 2010 when less than 40 right whales were photo-identified in the Bay - on the low side for one of the critical habitats in Canada.  Lack of food because of low copepod numbers (the right whale preferred zooplankton food) is one of the suspected problems last summer.

Baldy's family grows

On the 4th of January the Georgia Department of Natural Resources aerial survey team photographed Orion with her first calf.  Orion #3240 is the 2002 calf of Baldy #1240.  Baldy now has at least 11 grand calves from three of her daughters and one son.  Bugs has had five calves, #1503 has had four calves, Orion her first calf and son #2140 has fathered a calf.

Orion gets her name from three callosity islands on the left side of her head between the bonnet (at the tip of the rostrum) and the coaming (before the blowholes) that are reminiscent of the three stars in the constellation Orion's belt.  Names that reflect a characteristic of the callosities or other markings or scars are helpful in trying to remember particular whales.  Right whales do not all have names but there is a concerted attempt to name 15 or so a year.

Injured calf of Wart

The National Marine Fisheries Service aerial survey of Cashes Ledge in the Gulf of Maine found and photographed the 2001 male calf of Wart on December 18, 2010.  There were 28 right whales seen during this flight including #3140 or Lou as he is known.

He was last photographed in April, 2010 and since that time has had a significant injury on his tail stock or peduncle.  It is difficult to assess the injury from aerial photographs but a large section of skin is missing.  It is unknown if this extends completely around the tail stock.

We can only hope that Lou survives this injury.  Right whales do have an amazing ability to survive some gruesome injuries as seen with Ruffian #3530, who incidentally was also seen during this flight.

Ruffian's back scar - white scar tissue

Kleenex grand daughter and great-grand calf

On September 6, we went looking for humpbacks and sperm whales and ended up with right whales.   One of the mothers and calves was #3123, daughter of #1123, Drippy-nose or Sonnet, and grand daughter of #1142 Kleenex.  This mother calf pair had been seen by the Center for Coastal Studies research team on August 22 south of the September 6 location. 

Kleenex has one of the larger right whale families with eight offspring, seven grand calves (two born in 2010) and five great grand calves (one born in 2010).  Kleenex's last calf was born in 2009.

Her female offspring keep up the Bay of Fundy tradition by also bringing their calves to the Bay of Fundy in their first year.

This photo shows the mother #3123 behind her calf who is rolled on its side with the eye and eyebrow callosity and chin callosities visible.