The distribution of right whales and Zooplankton in the Bay of Fundy, Canada

1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (6) ◽  
pp. 1411-1420 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. D. Murison ◽  
D. E. Gaskin
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of Maine ◽  
Calanus Finmarchicus ◽  
Eubalaena Glacialis ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Scotian Shelf ◽  
Transition Zones ◽  
Right Whale ◽  
Right Whales ◽  
Two Peaks ◽  
Copepod Biomass

Temperature, salinity, density of Zooplankton patches, and the abundance of right whales (Eubalaena glacialis glacialis) were measured concurrently during summer and autumn of 1983 and 1984 over the Grand Manan Basin, outer Bay of Fundy. Right whales appeared to exploit patches of copepods at densities greater than about 820/m3 (170 mg m−3). Patches were composed primarily of stage V Calanus finmarchicus at depths ≥ 100 m during daylight hours. Patch densities were similar in 1983 and 1984. Potential right whale feeding areas increased in extent from late July to October, with at least two peaks of copepod biomass occurring in 1984. Right whales appear to exploit euphausiid patches in the bay only incidentally; the whales departed in 1984 when euphausiid biomass was at a maximum. The topography of the basin, prevailing summer currents, and orientation of transition zones from mixed to stratified water all combine to facilitate accumulation of copepods from the Scotian Shelf and Gulf of Maine in the central lower Bay of Fundy. This area provides an important feeding ground for this stenophagous whale species.

scholarly journals Anomalous 1992 spring and summer right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) distributions in the Gulf of Maine

2020 ◽  
pp. 209-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert D. Kenney
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of Maine ◽  
Late Summer ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Calanus Finmarchicus ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
First Year ◽  
Eubalaena Glacialis ◽  
Right Whale ◽  
Right Whales

No right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) were sighted during aerial surveys in May-July 1992 in the Great South Channel region of thesouthwestern Gulf of Maine. This was the first year that spring surveys failed to detect right whales in this region. During the latespring/early summer season when right whales would normally be expected in the Great South Channel, a few were sighted in the centralGulf of Maine, none were found in their usual late summer/early autumn feeding areas near Nova Scotia and a few were seen inMassachusetts Bay. The absence of right whales in the Great South Channel in 1992 can be attributed to a shift in the regional zooplanktoncommunity. The usual spring zooplankton of the region is strongly dominated by the calanoid copepod Calanus finmarchicus, verticallyand horizontally aggregated into dense patches which are the preferred foraging areas of right whales. The 1992 zooplankton was dominatedby pteropods, distributed evenly throughout the water column. It is possible, although unlikely, that pteropods are unacceptable prey forright whales. A more likely explanation is that their local densities within small-scale patches were below the energetic threshold requiredfor successful right whale feeding. The shift in zooplankton dominance in 1992 is likely related to significantly reduced water temperaturesand a delay in the development of the usual hydrographic structure of the region. The 1992 temperature and hydrographic anomalies, inturn, can be attributed principally to an unusually large influx of colder and fresher Scotian Shelf Water, and may have been enhanced bywidespread cooling of the Northern Hemisphere caused by sulphuric acid haze in the atmosphere from the June 1991 eruption of Pinatubovolcano in the Philippines.

scholarly journals Summer and fall habitat of North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) inferred from satellite telemetry

2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 527-543 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark F Baumgartner ◽  
Bruce R Mate
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Environmental Variables ◽  
Gulf Of Maine ◽  
High Surface ◽  
Chlorophyll Concentration ◽  
Calanus Finmarchicus ◽  
Eubalaena Glacialis ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Right Whales ◽  
North Atlantic Right Whales

Satellite-monitored radio tags were attached to North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) in Grand Manan Basin of the lower Bay of Fundy during the summer and early fall seasons of 1989–1991 and 2000. Monte Carlo tests were used to examine the distribution of the tagged whales in space and time and with respect to a variety of environmental variables to characterize right whale habitat on their northern feeding grounds. These environmental variables included depth, depth gradient, climatological surface and bottom hydrographic properties, and remotely sensed surface temperature, chlorophyll concentration, and their respective horizontal gradients. Site fidelity in the Bay of Fundy was very low during 1989–1991 and high during 2000. When the tagged animals left the Bay, they did not frequently visit the deep basins of the Gulf of Maine and Scotian Shelf, where abundances of their primary copepod prey, Calanus finmarchicus, are thought to be high. Instead, right whales visited areas characterized by low bottom water temperatures, high surface salinity, and high surface stratification. No evidence was found that the tagged right whales associated with oceanic fronts or regions with high standing stocks of phytoplankton.

Fishing-gear threat to right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) in Canadian waters and the risk of lethal entanglement

2011 ◽  
Vol 68 (12) ◽  
pp. 2174-2193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelia S.M. Vanderlaan ◽  
R. Kent Smedbol ◽  
Christopher T. Taggart
Keyword(s):  
Relative Risk ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Eubalaena Glacialis ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Commercial Fishing ◽  
Fishing Gear ◽  
Critical Habitat ◽  
North Atlantic Right Whale ◽  
Right Whale ◽  
Right Whales

Commercial fishing gear can potentially entangle any whale, and this is especially true for the endangered North Atlantic right whale ( Eubalaena glacialis ), for which entanglement is second only to vessel strike as being responsible for documented right whale deaths. We use right whale survey data and Canadian fishing-gear deployment data to estimate the relative threat of gear entanglement in a Scotia–Fundy study area and the relative risk of lethal entanglement in the Bay of Fundy and on Roseway Basin, Scotian Shelf, where Critical Habitat has been legislated. We focus on groundfish and pelagic hook-and-line; groundfish gillnet; and crab-, hagfish-, and inshore and offshore lobster-trap gear. Our analyses demonstrate that groundfish hook-and-line gear poses the greatest threat to right whales among the seven gear types analysed during the summer-resident period in Critical Habitat and that gear from the lobster fisheries poses the greatest threat during the spring and autumn periods when whales are migrating to and from Critical Habitat. We suggest that area-specific seasonal closures of some fisheries would reduce threat and risk to whales without unduly compromising fishing interests.

Environmental characteristics of North Atlantic right and fin whale habitat in the lower Bay of Fundy, Canada

1996 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas H. Woodley ◽  
David E. Gaskin
Keyword(s):  
Prey Species ◽  
Bottom Topography ◽  
Clupea Harengus ◽  
Calanus Finmarchicus ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Fin Whale ◽  
Physical Conditions ◽  
Right Whale ◽  
Right Whales ◽  
Fin Whales

Characteristics of right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) and fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) habitat in the lower Bay of Fundy were identified by quantifying physical and biological habitat variables and comparing them to the distribution of whales during the summer and autumn of 1989. Right whales were generally distributed over the Grand Manan Basin, where the bottom topography is relatively flat and the water column was stratified. Calanus finmarchicus, the principal prey species of right whales, was the predominant copepod taken in Zooplankton hauls, and the depth-averaged density (mean 1139/m3) was significantly greater where right whales were present. Fin whales were distributed mainly in shallower areas with high topographic variation that were likely well mixed or contained frontal interfaces between mixed and stratified waters. Herring (Clupea harengus) and euphausiids, both known prey of fin whales, were relatively abundant on echosounder traces in areas where fin whales were present. The habitats of both whale species were primarily characterized by high densities of principal prey species and the physical conditions that facilitate the accumulation of these prey.

North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) and its food: (II) interannual variations in biomass of Calanus spp. on western North Atlantic shelves

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 687-708 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin A Sorochan ◽  
StÉphane Plourde ◽  
Ryan Morse ◽  
Pierre Pepin ◽  
Jeffrey Runge ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Gulf Of Maine ◽  
Calanus Finmarchicus ◽  
Eubalaena Glacialis ◽  
Ocean Temperature ◽  
Range Limit ◽  
North Atlantic Right Whale ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Right Whale ◽  
Lower Biomass

Abstract The North Atlantic right whale (NARW), Eubalaena glacialis, feeds on zooplankton, particularly copepods of the genus Calanus. We quantified interannual variation in anomalies of abundance and biomass of Calanus spp. and near-surface and near-bottom ocean temperature and salinity from 19 subregions spanning the Gulf of Maine–Georges Bank (GoM–GBK), Scotian Shelf (SS), Gulf of St. Lawrence (GSL) and Newfoundland and Labrador Shelves. We analyzed time series from 1977 to 2016 in GoM–GBK, 1982 to 2016 in southwest GSL and 1999 to 2016 in remaining areas. Calanus finmarchicus dominated abundance and biomass, except in the GSL where Calanus hyperboreus was abundant. The biomass of Calanus spp. declined in many subregions over years 1999–2016 and was negatively correlated with sea surface temperature in GoM–GBK and on the SS. We detected ``regime shifts” to lower biomass of Calanus spp. in the GoM–GBK in 2010 and on the SS in 2011. In the GoM–GBK, shifts to lower biomass of C. finmarchicus coincided with shifts to warmer ocean temperature and with published reports of changes in spatial distribution and reduced calving rate of NARW. We hypothesize that warming has negatively impacted population levels of Calanus spp. near their southern range limit, reducing the availability of prey to NARW.

scholarly journals Ocean Regime Shift is Driving Collapse of the North Atlantic Right Whale Population

Oceanography ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 22-31
Author(s):  
Erin Meyer-Gutbrod ◽  
◽  
Charles Greene ◽  
Kimberley Davies ◽  
David Johns
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Regime Shift ◽  
Gulf Of Maine ◽  
Scotian Shelf ◽  
North Atlantic Right Whale ◽  
Right Whale ◽  
The North ◽  
Right Whales ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
Foraging Environment

Ocean warming linked to anthropogenic climate change is impacting the ecology of marine species around the world. In 2010, the Gulf of Maine and Scotian Shelf regions of the Northwest Atlantic underwent an unprecedented regime shift. Forced by climate-driven changes in the Gulf Stream, warm slope waters entered the region and created a less favorable foraging environment for the endangered North Atlantic right whale population. By mid-decade, right whales had shifted their late spring/summer foraging grounds from the Gulf of Maine and the western Scotian Shelf to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The population also began exhibiting unusually high mortality in 2017. Here, we report that climate-driven changes in ocean circulation have altered the foraging environment and habitat use of right whales, reducing the population’s calving rate and exposing it to greater mortality risks from ship strikes and fishing gear entanglement. The case of the North Atlantic right whale provides a cautionary tale for the management of protected species in a changing ocean.

Assessment of the population structure of western North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) based on sighting and mtDNA data

1993 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 339-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine M. Schaeff ◽  
Scott D. Kraus ◽  
Moira W. Brown ◽  
Bradley N. White
Keyword(s):  
Population Structure ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Courtship Behavior ◽  
Restriction Enzymes ◽  
Eubalaena Glacialis ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Right Whale ◽  
Right Whales ◽  
North Atlantic Right Whales ◽  
Reproductive Females

Photoidentifications and 11 years of sighting data revealed that only two-thirds of the western North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) reproductive females took their calves to the Bay of Fundy, the only known summer nursery. Study of cow–calf pairs further indicated that female, and to a lesser extent male, calves were philopatric with respect to this nursery. To further examine population structure, mtDNA composite restriction morphs were determined for 150 animals (47% of the population). Using 11 restriction enzymes, three composite mtDNA morphs were identified. One morph was not found among reproductive females that brought all of their calves to the Bay of Fundy. In contrast, all three morphs were present, in the same relative frequencies, among males that were seen in the Bay of Fundy and those that were not. These findings support the hypothesis that this population may be divided into two subgroups, which are defined by their use of the Fundy nursery, and that males are generally less philopatric than females. Animals from both subgroups were seen on the southern Scotian shelf, where most right whale courtship behavior was observed. Hence, although segregated by nursery areas, the western North Atlantic right whales probably represent a single breeding population.

SEASONAL OCCURRENCE OF NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE (EUBALAENA GLACIALIS) VOCALIZATIONS AT TWO SITES ON THE SCOTIAN SHELF

2007 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 856-867 ◽  
Author(s):  
David K. Mellinger ◽  
Sharon L. Nieukirk ◽  
Haru Matsumoto ◽  
Sara L. Heimlich ◽  
Robert P. Dziak ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Seasonal Occurrence ◽  
Eubalaena Glacialis ◽  
Scotian Shelf ◽  
North Atlantic Right Whale ◽  
Right Whale

The Biology of the Zooplankton Population in the Bay of Fundy and Gulf of Maine with Special Reference to Production and Distribution.

1937 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 189-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles J. Fish ◽  
Martin W. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Critical Period ◽  
Water Mass ◽  
Gulf Of Maine ◽  
Calanus Finmarchicus ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Eastern Basin ◽  
Zooplankton Population ◽  
Production And Distribution ◽  
Spawning Periods ◽  
Different Parts

Analyses in the gulf of Maine and bay of Fundy show the zooplankton population to be dominated by a relatively few species of boreal endemic crustaceans. Calanus finmarchicus, the most abundant form, averaged 39.9 per cent by number in the total region during the period, April to September in 1932, and 35.5 per cent for the year in the bay of Fundy. Fluctuations in the volume of zooplankton reflect to a large extent numerical changes in the stock of this species. The vernal rise in 1932 occurred following propagation of Calanus, and the rapid downward trend in June coincided with the critical period of maturation and subsequent mortality of adults after spawning. Due to differences in the time of spawning in different parts of the region, two, and in some cases three, breeding stocks of boreal plankton animals can usually be distinguished. The distinct spawning periods are continued in subsequent generations that year no matter where distributed. Productivity was found to be closely correlated with temperature and stability of the water mass, and dispersal with the nontidal circulation in the region. The vernal crop of boreal plankton species appears to be derived largely from adults maturing in the western or outer gulf. With the advance of the season the centre of production moves to the eastern basin. The turbulent New Brunswick-eastern Maine coastal zone as far west as Mount Desert is relatively unproductive, and characterized by small zooplankton volumes.

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