"Observers from the Center for Coastal Studies (CCS) Right Whale Ecology Program spotted a North Atlantic right whale off Boston's coast Nov. 19 while conducting an aerial survey, according to a CCS press release. What made this already rare sighting extraordinary was that the whale apparently traveled 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean to get there. Noting unique scarring on the right side of the whale's head, researchers in the New England Aquarium's Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life matched it to a whale that had been seen near Donegal Bay, Ireland, in July 2024, as reported by the Irish Whale & Dolphin Group."
""While the photos from the 2024 Ireland sighting showed some unique features, we were unsure the quality of the photos would be sufficient to identify the whale in the future," said Lindsey Jones, a scientist at the Anderson Cabot Center. "After a flurry of matching effort and emails, we were excited to discover the first ever photo-ID match between Ireland and the U.S. East Coast.""
""The first sighting of the year is always exciting, but we didn't yet realize just how remarkable this one would turn out to be," CCS researcher Ryan Schosberg said in the release."
Observers from the Center for Coastal Studies spotted a North Atlantic right whale off Boston on Nov. 19 during an aerial survey. The whale apparently traveled about 3,000 miles across the Atlantic from a sighting near Donegal Bay, Ireland, in July 2024. Unique scarring on the whale's head enabled a photo-ID match between the Ireland sighting and the U.S. East Coast. The match represents the first documented case of a whale initially traveling east to west across the North Atlantic. The occurrence suggests western North Atlantic habitats may still be suitable for right whales. The species remains critically endangered with an estimated population of 384.
Read at Boston.com
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