“Cap’n” Seth Wakeman Jr.
David Tilton and Lynn Silva were out making their typical derby rounds Friday afternoon when they came across a whale in 20 to 25 feet of water just off the Brickyard on the Chilmark north shore.
A minke whale entangled in fishing gear 40 miles southwest of Martha’s Vineyard was freed Sunday by the Center for Coastal Studies Marine Animal Entanglement Response. Responders said they expected the 15-foot whale to recover.
The following is an award-winning essay written by Womsikuk James for the Young Native Writer’s Essay Contest.
Announced Monday, the news from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was hailed as a boost to protection efforts for the critically endangered right whales.
A dead juvenile finback whale was found floating in the ocean between the Vineyard and Noman’s Land last Friday.
David Damroth, a Chilmark resident, said he spotted the whale from a hill above Squibnocket Beach. He later took his boat out on the water and got a closer look at the animal, which was largely intact, he said. The only marks he saw were from scavenging seagulls.
Mariners are being urged to proceed with caution through the waters of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket following the probable sighting Sunday of three right whales north of Oak Bluffs.
The whales were spotted two and three miles offshore, said Tim Cole, a fisheries biologist with the National Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole.
Less than 450 Atlantic right whales are known to be in existence, making them one of the most endangered marine mammals in this area.
