BOSTON (WHDH) - Endangered North Atlantic right whale sightings have been increasing in the waters off the coast of Massachusetts, the New England Aquarium announced Friday.
During the late fall and winter months, some right whales migrate to shallow coastal waters off the southeastern United States, where females give birth to their calves and some juveniles and males congregate for short periods of time. But now — in an uplifting sign of spring — the whales are continuing their historic habit returning to feed in the waters off Massachusetts.
The whales typically migrate north and join others from unknown areas in Cape Cod Bay before heading to feeding grounds further north.
“In a time when so much is changing around us, I find the appearance of right whales feeding in these waters as they have for hundreds, if not thousands, of years reassuring. Some ancient behaviors remain,” said Philip Hamilton, a research scientist with the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium.
Cape Cod Bay is said to draw the whales with its rich blooms of zooplankton to feed on.
“The plankton patches are so dense that you can often see dozens of right whales at a time forcing their massive open mouths through the water as they feed,” Hamilton said.
The whales have been brought to the brink of extinction by commercial whaling, human activities, vessel strikes, entanglement in fishing gear, and climate change.
There are less than 409 right whales thought to be alive today.
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