One of the rarest creatures on the earth, the endangered right whale, was seen near the Vineyard Tuesday. The sighting off the Gay Head Cliffs is for the record books, a first for the Vineyard in a long time.
The Northeast Right Whale is one of the world’s most endangered marine mammals, with only slightly more than 300 known to be in existence. One was observed from an airplane while it was feeding.
“Cap’n” Seth Wakeman Jr. of Menemsha reports that representatives of the Oceanographic Institution at Woods Hole got “some of the best whale pictures ever taken,” during a recent visit to the Island. In addition to taking still and movie shots, the scientists also had excellent luck in recording the sounds of the whales which have been seen off Menemsha Bight and Gay Head in recent weeks.
Several shoals of fin-back and hump-back whales were seen a day or two since from five to fifteen miles south-east of Noman’s Land, Vineyard Sound. They were in sight nearly all day on Thursday, and were in shoals of about fifteen.
Less than a month into the calving season, four baby North Atlantic right whales have already been spotted off the coast of Florida and Georgia, offering a glimmer of hope for the species.
Recent grants were awarded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association to develop and study ropeless or breakable rope fishing technology for lobstermen and other trap fishermen.
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.
