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This Month’s Contents:
Blue Ocean News |
Research Report | Upcoming Events
| Quote of
the Month
Blue Ocean News
 Greetings!
Spring is just around the corner and we are getting ready for
another busy season. Other than getting things ready for our boat
programs, one of our main activities during the spring is presenting
school programs. We have lots of information about our programs
online, including a newsletter just for schools – check it out at
http://www.blueoceansociety.org/school.htm
and please pass this info on to any teacher you know!
Our
research coordinator Dianna Schulte has been busy down in Florida
watching right whales and also summing up our research results for
the 2005 season (see more below). Dianna reports that there have
been 18 mother/calf right whale pairs seen so far, although sadly,
two of the calves have died already, one from a ship strike and the
other from an entanglement in a gill net. In a quick response to
this latest death, NOAA enacted a temporary rule to ban all gillnet
fishing from the right whale calving grounds (Savannah, GA to
Sebastian Inlet, FL) until March 31.
 Another
big task this time of year is recruiting summer interns to assist
with our research and education programs. Know someone who would
like to spend some time on a boat this summer? Direct them to our
intern page. We also have an opening for a Coastal Cleanup
intern – more information on that is available
here. This is a paid internship and involves assisting our staff
in coordinating the International Coastal Cleanup in New Hampshire
again this year.
Explore our site for information on current happenings, along with
lots of information on local marine species, recommended whale watch
companies, and program information, or come talk to us at a beach
cleanup! Thanks for reading!
Free
educational programs!
Through the generosity of the NH Coastal Program, we are able to
offer free programs to schools/groups within the NH Coastal
Watershed. For other schools, we have low-cost programming
available to fit within your budget. Visit our
programs page for more information!
2005 Research Report
 We
recently completed a special print newsletter issue that summarized
our research results from the 2005 season. As you probably know, our
research is primarily conducted in a part of the Gulf of Maine
called Jeffreys Ledge, a 30-mile long rocky ridge that lies about 20
miles off the coasts of southern Maine, New Hampshire and northern
Massachusetts. The ledge and surrounding waters provide a productive
feeding ground for a number of species during the summer.
The
most commonly-sighted whales in our area this past summer were
finback (fin), minke and humpback whales, followed by Atlantic
white-sided dolphins. We saw the most fin whales in August and the
most humpbacks in July.
At
an average of 60-70 feet in length, fin whales are the
second-largest animal ever to live on the planet, and we are lucky
to see this endangered species so often during the summer. We study
fin whales by looking at their unique natural markings. Out of 950
recorded sightings of fin whales (some are the same individuals seen
repeatedly), we identified 63 individual fin whales, 22 of which had
been seen by our researchers in previous years.
Humpbacks are another endangered species that we see during the
summer, and are a favorite with whale watchers. We recorded over 300
humpback sightings, which consisted of 52 identified individuals.
Six of these whales were females who had a calf! It’s always
exciting to see youngsters coming up to the ledge with their mother
for the first time.
We
were also lucky enough to see a variety of other species this year,
including right whales, pilot whales, Atlantic bottlenose dolphins,
Common dolphins, White-beaked dolphins, bluefin tuna, basking
sharks, blue sharks and ocean sunfish. We’re looking forward to
seeing what the upcoming 2006 season will bring.
You
can read our research newsletter
here (PDF file). Thanks to the
Gulf of Maine
Council on the Marine Environment for their support of this
project.
Upcoming Events
Beach cleanups at Jenness Beach:
Saturday, March 11: 10:30 AM
Saturday, April 8: 10:30 AM
Saturday, May 6: 10:30 AM
Cleanups take 1-2 hours, depending on the number of participants. We
provide all supplies and refreshments, although we’re always happy
to accept supply donations! We also provide a short orientation at
the beginning, so no experience is needed!. To sign up, reply to
this e-mail or
click here.
Other Events:
Mark your calendars! Third Annual Earth Day
Cleanup at Peirce Island: Saturday, April 22 at 11 AM, Peirce Island
in Portsmouth. This year’s cleanup will feature a scavenger hunt!
More details to come soon!
Click here
to sign up!
This Month’s Quote
“We share the Earth not only
with our fellow human beings, but with all the other creatures.”
–Dalai Lama
Thanks for your interest in marine conservation. If you wish to
support our work, please click here. |
