Researchers, conservationists and fishermen have agreed on measures to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales, whose population continues to teeter at the brink of extinction.
A group of 17 North Atlantic right whales was spotted by an aerial survey team 21 miles south of Nantucket early this week, prompting a renewed call for voluntary speed restrictions among mariners and also renewed concern for the future of the critically endangered mammals.
Rescuers have been working to free an entangled female North Atlantic right whale, one of the many that have made their seasonal arrival in waters south of the Vineyard and in Cape Cod Bay to feed.
Dr. Mark Baumgartner will be the featured speaker for Plight of the Right Whale, an upcoming Tuesdays in the Newsroom talk held at the Gazette office on Tuesday, Jan. 23.