PDA

View Full Version : Right Whales One The Move?


KayNS
09-23-2015, 09:24 AM
The animal that I am most passionate about has to be the North Atlantic Right Whale. I developed a love for these creatures when I was 17 and worked for a whale watching company. At that point their population was down around 300. These days it's up over 500 (yay!), but I was distressed to read this article this morning:

http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1312707-right-whales-off-cape-breton-going-the-wrong-way-for-shipping-fishing

It sounds like the distribution of the right whales is changing and people aren't 100% sure why. This could be a bad thing for the whales. I'm definitely going to be keeping an eye on this issue!

EDIT: Oops! The thread title should be "Right Whales On The Move?" Not sure how that E got in there!
Mermaid Kelda
09-23-2015, 11:52 AM
Oh no! I hope it's not a serious issue. These things can happen naturally without apparent reason (at least, not immediately visible) but it's a shame that most of the reason those places are poor for the whales is because of humans :\

Also, to get a typo fixed in your title, hit the triangular ! button on the bottom left and report the post to a moderator :)
KayNS
09-23-2015, 12:01 PM
Also, to get a typo fixed in your title, hit the triangular ! button on the bottom left and report the post to a moderator :)

Thanks!
KayNS
09-23-2015, 12:03 PM
Here's another article I found. http://www.dal.ca/news/2015/08/20/right-whales-may-abandon-protected-feeding-habitats-in-search-of.html

It looks like their food source is shifting. The big problem is that their current known habitat is protected, but where they seem to be moving isn't, so they're potentially at an increased risk of ship strikes and fishing gear entanglement.

(Side note, I REALLY need to get back involved with this stuff! It makes my heart pump! My current dayjob has NOTHING to do with this.)
AptaMer
09-26-2015, 01:53 PM
Hmmm, I wonder if the mermaid community in the Atlantic region (Maritime provinces, Quebec, New England?) might be able to help publicize the importance of whale protection and promote cetacean welfare among these North Atlantic populations?