The New England Aquarium is calling for regulations to protect the North Atlantic Right Whales after more than 80 were spotted last month in the Hudson and Block Canyon area off Long Island.
There are fewer than 400 North Atlantic Right Whales in the world, meaning last month’s sighting represents nearly a quarter of the endangered species population that has been seen around Long Island since May.
According to Katherine McKenna, an aerial surveyor at the aquarium, the whales' recent visit could indicate the abundance of resources there.
“These deep-sea canyons, such as Hudson and Block Canyon, are known to create productive waters for several species due to their deep slopes of the canyons and their presence along the shelf edge,” McKenna said. “It can create areas of upwelling of nutrients that drive in a lot of other species to feed off these produce waters. We saw a large number of right whales and other species as well.”
The slow-moving whales might be at risk due to the human population in the area since they spend much of their time at the surface. McKenna said they can become casualties in boat collisions and fishing line entanglements — the two leading causes of death for the species.
“We did observe various human activities near the whale,” McKenna said. “Whether it was large commercial vessels moving through the area, sporting fishing vessels transiting at high speeds to and from the fishing ground out there near the canyons, as well as fishing gears that were set and observed near the proximity to where the Right Whales were.”
No mandatory protection regulations have been passed near the feeding areas of Right Whales. McKenna said that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association has been considering updating its speed limit and other regulations, but they’re not finalized.
McKenna said the delay in passing these regulations further put the Right Whales at risk.
“Right whales swim so slowly and feed with their mouths open, and that can create more overlaps with lines getting caught inside their mouths while feeding,” McKenna said. “They can roll or react in response to hitting a line, doing a barrier roll. That creates more complicated entanglements and results in further wrapping around their mouths, heads, and flippers.”
McKenna advises boaters who see whales to operate slowly or avoid the area entirely.
