Volume 9 Number 3 August 2002

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 IMO Subcommittee Approves Proposal To Move Shipping Lanes in the Bay of Fundy

 

 Transport Canada's proposal to move the position of shipping lanes in the Bay of Fundy has been approved by a subcommittee of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The change, which is expected to make the Bay of Fundy safer for right whales, was approved by the IMO's Subcommittee on the Safety of Navigation, which met in London July 8-12. The proposed change will shift inbound and outbound shipping lanes to avoid summer concentrations of right whales near Grand Manan Island. It is expected to reduce the relative probability of the potential for ship strikes of right whales by as much as 80 percent.

 

In the subcommittee, the unique Canadian initiative was endorsed by the governments of the Bahamas, Croatia, Germany, Panama, Sweden and the United States. It also was supported by several shipping companies, including the New Brunswick-based Irving Oil, Ltd., and INTERTANKO, the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners. Both the United States and INTERTANKO formally complimented the Canadian delegation on the quality of the proposal, the extensive work in scientific assessment of whale populations in the Bay of Fundy, the thorough evaluation of potential implications, and the extent of community consultation. Transport Canada had worked on the proposal with a variety of stakeholders for the last two years.

 

The proposal now goes to the Marine Safety Committee for consideration. Final IMO adoption is expected in December. If adopted, Transport Canada will implement the changes six months after IMO adoption. Implementation includes publication of new navigation charts and notices to mariners. The new routes will hopefully go into effect in the summer of 2003.

 

 

Proposed Changes Would Make Canadian Waters Safer for Right Whales

Canadian Waters Safer for Right Whales

By Dr. Moira Brown

Center for Coastal Studies, Provincetown, MA

and Canadian Whale Institute, Bolton, Ontario

 

In April 2002, Transport Canada submitted a proposal to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to amend the existing Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) for vessel traffic in the Bay of Fundy, in order to reduce the potential for interaction between right whales and vessels. The TSS, originally adopted in 1983, provides for the separation of vessel traffic between the southeastern entrance to the Bay of Fundy and the port of Saint John, New Brunswick. It is located almost entirely within Canada's territorial waters and is mandatory for all vessels greater than 65 feet in length, in accordance with Canada's national collisions regulations.

 

About 800 ships use the TSS annually, primarily tankers, bulk carriers, tugs, container ships, cruise ships and government vessels. Although Saint John traffic represents the vast majority and the largest ships, three other ports have regular, though less frequent, traffic. The ports of Bayside (New Brunswick) and Eastport (Maine) attract an estimated combined total of 100 ships each year (60 and 40 ships respectively), and the port of Hantsport (Novia Scotia) attracts about 110 ships per year.

 

The impact of ship strikes on right whales has been well documented (see Knowlton and Kraus, 2001, for the most recent information). Massive wounds such as fractured skulls, severed tails, and large propeller slashes found on right whale carcasses have been used to confirm that collisions between whales and large ships have been responsible for a number of deaths. Between 1970 and 1999, 36 percent of all right whale mortalities documented by whale biologists have been attributed to ship strikes. Since 1991, 56 percent of confirmed right whale mortalities have been attributed to ship strikes. The actual total number of deaths resulting from ship strikes is unknown; however, it is almost certainly higher than the observed number. There have been three such documented right whale mortalities in the Bay of Fundy in the 1990s.

 

Since the establishment of the TSS, extensive research on right whales compiled by the New England Aquarium, with contributions from Canadian collaborators (primarily East Coast Ecosystems, Freeport Nova Scotia), has shown an overlap between right whales and the TSS. Further analysis of right whale data by Robert Kenney at the University of Rhode Island, using sightings-per-unit-effort data, mapped by Jennifer Beaudin Ring, has shown that the densest concentrations of right whales overlap with the outbound lane of the existing TSS. A mean probability analysis of the same right whale sighting data by Christopher Taggart and Angela Vanderlann at Dalhousie University, augmented by vessel data from the Marine Communications and Traffic Service office in Saint John (Fundy Traffic), has shown that a shift in the lanes by about 3.9 nautical miles to the east would reduce the relative probability of a ship whale interaction by 80 percent.

 

Over the last couple of years, these analyses and the right whale issue were presented to representatives of the shipping, fishing and whale watch industries, the Saint John Port Authority, the Canadian Right Whale Implementation Team, the relevant Canadian government agencies (Canadian Coast Guard, Canadian Hydrographic Service, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Transport Canada, Marine Safety) and a number of biologists, master mariners and harbor pilots through briefing sessions and presentations at the Canadian Marine Advisory Council. Consideration was given to implications to the fishing industry and other whale species commonly found in the Bay of Fundy. There was unanimous support for an amendment to the TSS.

 

The amendment proposed by Transport Canada consists of three main modifications to the TSS: 1) relocation to the northeast of the existing course alteration point by extending the southern segment; 2) the consequential realignment of the northern segment with the approaches to the Port of Saint John; and 3) the establishment of an entry/exit junction with traffic lanes and a separation zone for traffic going to and returning from the ports of Bayside and Eastport. Implementing these changes will shift the traffic lanes of the northern segment to the east through areas where the population density of right whales is considerably lower. Although the combined traffic to Bayside and Eastport is only about 100 ships per year, a junction was considered necessary to direct this traffic around and to the north of the right whale conservation area.

 

The World Wildlife Fund Canada, the World Wildlife Fund US and the Habitat Stewardship Program of Environment Canada supported this effort.

 

Reference: Knowlton, A. R. and S. D. Kraus. 2001. Martality and serious injury of Northern right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) in the Western North Atlantic. International Journal of Cetacean Research and Management Special Issue 2: 193-208.

 

 

 Entangled Polaris Swims South to Uncertain Future

Editor's note: Most of the information in the following report was obtained from the Center for Coastal Studies' web site: www.coastalstudies.org. The site includes photographs, a satellite and visual tracking map and updates on the entangled whale.

 

On July 12, a recreational boater sighted an entangled right whale eight miles off the coast of Atlantic City, New Jersey. The boater called the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), and the report was relayed to the Marine Mammal Stranding Center (MMSC) in Brigantine, NJ. The Coast Guard then took Bob Schoelkopf of MMSC to the whale for an assessment. He verified the species and the nature of the entanglement. The Center for Coastal Studies' whale rescue team (CCS) was called in and taken by Coast Guard helicopter to Atlantic City, and then by USCG cutter Ibis to the scene. The CCS team was able to attach a satellite/VHF buoy to a line trailing about 40 feet behind the flukes. They also removed about 300 feet of trailing line to reduce the risk of further entanglement. The line will be examined by National Marine Fisheries Service gear experts and others to try to determine the source of the gear involved.

 

From images provided by CCS, New England Aquarium researchers were able to identify the whale as catalog number 1427, nicknamed Polaris, a 45-foot long male born in 1984. The whale has been observed every year since then except 1986.

 

On July 13, the whale was seen again off Delaware's Indian River Inlet, confirming its steady course to the south. On July 17, off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, a well-intentioned charter boat operator removed the telemetry buoy and more of the line. On July 21, Polaris was sighted again, this time about 30 miles east of Charleston, South Carolina. Three days later, a private boater sighted Polaris traveling south about ten miles off St. Simons Island, Georgia, about 664 nautical miles from the first sighting off Atlantic City. Within two hours of the report, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GA DNR) had a plane and a boat looking for the whale, but they were unable to make contact. The whale has not been sighted since then.

 

Aerial photographs taken by NMFS staff on July 17 and video footage taken by a USCG helicopter crew on July 21 helped clarify the nature of the entanglement. The whale has a heavy (5/8 inch) synthetic line trailing 70 feet behind the tail. Twenty feet behind the fluke is an orange buoy. The line passes under the body, under the left flipper, into the left side of the mouth and out the right side of the mouth. The line loops over &emdash; and is embedded in &emdash; the upper jaw and re-enters the left side of the mouth. CCS notes that this appears to be a life-threatening entanglement. Photographs show baleen plates protruding from the mouth, and video footage shows wide patches of peeling and pocked skin.

 

This event is one of the first observed entanglements of large whales off the Georgia-north Florida coast. As a result, both GA DNR and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will use the experience to help prepare a more formal response protocol to reports of entangled whales. GA DNR already maintains a year-round cache of tools and equipment to support the CCS whale rescue team.

 

The aberrant Polaris, swimming south to the calving grounds during a time of year when most right whales are in New England and

 

 

 

NMFS Makes Staff Changes

By Diane Borggaard

Large Whale Coordinator, Protected Resources Division, Northeast Regional Office

National Marine Fisheries Service, Gloucester, MA

 

 

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has announced two recent staff changes in the Gear Research Team. John Higgins replaces Glenn Salvador in the position of Northeast Fisheries Gear Liaison for the Northeast Region, Protected Resources Division. Glenn Salvador will relocate to Lewes, DE, in September to work for the Northeast Region as Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Gear Liaison.

 

John Higgins brings to his new position over 25 years of experience as a New England commercial fisherman, Maine Department of Marine Resources extension agent and University of Maine research vessel operator. He will work with fishermen along the New England coast on gear research, soliciting gear modification ideas and answering questions on issues related to NMFS Take Reduction Plans. He resides in Pemaquid, ME, and can be reached at 207-677-2316.

 

In his new position, Glenn Salvador will expand NMFS Take Reduction Plan outreach and gear research efforts in the Mid-Atlantic. He can be reached at Glenn.Salvador@noaa.gov

 

John Kenney (401-782-3346; john.f.kenney@noaa.gov) and Bill Foster (252-986-2430; fosfish@earthlink.net) continue in their current capacity as part of the NMFS Gear Research Team working on outreach and gear research issues in the northeast and southeast Atlantic, respectively.

 

Information on the NMFS Gear Research Team can be found on the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan web page (http://www.nero.nmfs.gov/whaletrp/) at "Gear Research and Development" under "Elements of the Plan." Complete contact information for John and Glenn will be updated on the web page in September.

 

As always, NMFS encourages those with gear research ideas or questions to contact the Gear Research Team.

 

 

 

 

Massachusetts Environmental Trust Awards Grants

to Right Whale News and WhaleNet

 

The Board of Trustees of the Massachusetts Environmental Trust has awarded grants to two right whale communications tools: Right Whale News and WhaleNet, an interactive web site maintained by Wheelock College in Boston. These grants were among seven projects receiving funds from the Trust's FY03 Biodiversity program.

 

The grant to Right Whale News will help support its publication for three years. Funding from the Massachusetts Environmental Trust and other sponsors allows Right Whale News to be distributed free around the world in hard copy and electronically. At present, there are approximately 680 subscribers from 21 countries. Most subscribers are from countries that border waters that are important habitats for the world's three known species of right whales. The majority are from the east coast of the U.S. and Canada. The grant calls for an increase in distribution of the newsletter, so if you know of a colleague who should receive a free subscription, please send the mailing address to the RWN editor, Hans Neuhauser, at gepi@ix.netcom.com

 

The grant to WhaleNet supports the compilation, posting and maintenance of WhaleNet's Live Research Database on endangered right whales. The web address is http://whale.wheelock.edu For additional information, contact the WhaleNet director, Michael Williamson, at williams@wheelock.edu

 

The mission of the Massachusetts Environmental Trust is to encourage cooperative efforts to raise environmental awareness and support innovative approaches that can protect and restore our natural resources, with a special focus on water and related resources of the Commonwealth. The Trust's primary sources of income are from environmental lawsuit settlement proceeds and environmental license plate revenues. For additional information on the Massachusetts Environmental Trust, visit their web site at: www.MassEnvironmentalTrust.org

 

 

 

Northeast Consortium Awards Grants to Four Right Whale Projects

 

The Northeast Consortium, a partnership of four New England-based research institutions, has awarded $661,883 to support four right whale research projects. Chris Clark of Cornell University received $302,902 for his project titled "Passive Acoustic Methods for Detection of Right Whale Sounds." Darlene Ketten at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution received $87,563 for "Hearing in the North Atlantic Right Whale." Scott Kraus at the New England Aquarium received $193,725 for "Right Whale Research and Monitoring in the Bay of Fundy." Andrew Pershing of Cornell University received $77,693 for "Right Whales, Calanus, and Climate: Distribution and Abundance of Right Whales Relative to Their Prey."

 

Funding for the grants comes from Congressional appropriations to the National Marine Fisheries Service, administered by the University of New Hampshire (UNH) on behalf of the four Northeast Consortium institutions: UNH, the University of Maine, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. A total of $1 million was available for right whale research in FY2002. The remaining funds are used for project development, UNH indirect costs, NOAA administration and a NOAA budget cut. For additional information on the Northeast Consortium, consult their web site at: www.northeastconsortium.org

 

 

 

 National Whale Conservation Fund Grants Announced

 

Five awards were made in the initial (Spring 2002) RFP/proposal/review process of the recently established National Whale Conservation Fund (NWCF). This program is administered through the partnership of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (Foundation), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Marine Mammal Commission. The right whale proposals selected by the NWCF Advisory Council were:

 

Acoustical Communications in the Northern Right Whale

Peter Tyack and Susan Parks, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)

Social behavior of right whales called 'surface active groups' (SAGs) and the associated communication involved from the groups to other whales in the area will be examined. WHOI plans to apply the results of this hearing and behavioral data from natural stimuli to address concerns about vessel detection and avoidance and masking of important biological signals by noise in the environment. WHOI will study both the behavior and hearing of right whales in response to female calls from SAGs by using a special tag on nearby male right whales that can detect hearing from the given radius as well as any behavioral responses. Specifically, the overall study seeks to understand why some whales do not seem to hear oncoming ships in time to move out of the way. Researchers will be looking at their results as a way to assist managers in evaluating passive detection and alarm stimulus models for addressing the ship strike problem.

 

North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium: Support for Collaboration

Amy Knowlton and Marilyn Marx, New England Aquarium

Funding will provide partial support three years of collaboration of right whale research through the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium. The Consortium includes representatives from research and conservation groups, shipping and fishing industries, state, federal and provincial governments and others, dedicated to the conservation and recovery of the North Atlantic right whale. The grant will support continuation of the annual meetings, abstract publications, and general clearinghouse of Northern right whale research. These annual meetings and abstracts are seen as an essential tool in research collaboration for the North Atlantic right whale.

 

Impacts of Genetics on the Reproduction of the North Atlantic Right Whale

Moira Brown, Center for Coastal Studies (CCS)

Support for genetic analysis of right whales, specifically to compare DNA profiles from 500 year-old bones and from South Atlantic right whales to genetically determine paternity and maternity as well as genetically assess the population structure. This research will be compared to a long data series of North Atlantic right whales. By comparing the levels of nuclear genetic diversity between North and South Atlantic right whales, the investigators hope to identify if there is a significant difference in the levels of diversity between the North and South Atlantic right whales and if genetic differences could explain the differences in recovery rates for these two populations. The overall purpose of this genetic research is to determine if genetic factors could be a contributing factor to the low rate of reproduction and recovery of the North Atlantic right whale.

 

In addition, the National Whale Conservation Fund supported two projects focusing on humpback whales: Investigating Newly Discovered Humpback Whale Breeding Ground (John Calambokidis, Cascadia Research) and Advancing Innovative Techniques for Assessing Human Impacts on Large Whales (David Mattila and Jooke Robbins, Center for Coastal Studies).

 

For more information, please contact Michelle Pico, Manager, National Whale Conservation Fund, at (202) 857-0166.

 

 

Congressional Staff Visit NOAA Fisheries Right Whale Programs

 By Aleria Jensen

Knauss Sea Grant Fellow, Office of Protected Resources

National Marine Fisheries Service, Silver Spring, MD

 

The NOAA Fisheries Office of Protected Resources, Northeast Regional Office and Northeast Fisheries Science Center hosted a Congressional staff informational field visit to NOAA Fisheries in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, on May 30 and 31. The purpose of the visit was for Congressional staff to learn more about NOAA Fisheries' North Atlantic right whale protection and recovery program. It was arranged in response to interest from the Hill concerning the Agency's right whale activities. As research and conservation partners in this widespread effort, the Center for Coastal Studies, the New England Aquarium and Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary also participated in this event. Twelve Congressional staff members attended the event, representing northeastern states' congressional offices and Senate Commerce, House Resource and House Armed Services Committees.

 

NOAA Fisheries staff from the Northeast Regional Office, the Northeast Fisheries Science Center and the headquarters Office of Protected Resources presented a comprehensive overview of the Agency's right whale program. The presentation included discussions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act, the right whale spending plan, population status, science and research, the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan process, Seasonal and Dynamic Area Management, and efforts to reduce right whale injuries and mortalities through ship strike mitigation and gear modifications. The Center for Coastal Studies gave an in-depth presentation about their disentanglement program, including its history, response and rescue efforts, and ongoing genetic and habitat research.

 

Congressional staff also were given the opportunity to learn more about NOAA's research platforms by touring the M/V Delaware and visiting a mock-up model used for the design of the new fishery research vessel. Finally, invited guests had the opportunity to participate in a Sighting Advisory System aerial survey over the Great South Channel, to better understand how NOAA Fisheries monitors the North Atlantic right whale population.

 

 

 

 

New Information on the ALWTRP Web Site

 

The Northeast Regional Office of NMFS regularly posts information germane to right whale recovery on their Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan web site: http://www.nero.nmfs.gov/whaletrp/ The web site is designed to provide information to members of the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team and other interested parties. Recent postings include the announcement of the temporary Dynamic Area Management zone rule (in effect July 1 through July 15), a link to the Northeast Consortium's Cooperative Research and Right Whale Project Development Funds, and selected publications.

 

 

 

Report on the Atlantic Canadian Right Whale Coordinating Meeting

 

The third annual Bay of Fundy Right whale coordinating meeting was convened in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada on April 3rd and 4th, 2002. The venue for the meeting was the Department of Fisheries and Oceans research facility, the Saint Andrews Biological Station. Participants included representatives from academic and research organizations and federal agencies from both Canada and the United States.

 

The purpose of the meeting was two fold: first to review the past research on right whales and bring everyone up to speed on the existing status of research and second to review the proposals for the coming season and to determine how to best minimize the research activity around right whales while still achieving the research objectives.

 

The meeting also provided the opportunity for the transfer of a full size mock up of a right whale tail destined for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The tail, designed and made by Dr. Paul Brodie of Halifax, Nova Scotia, will assist in the development and design of technology used for the disentanglement process of whales.

 

Plans are for this meeting to become an annual event in Saint Andrews. Meetings will be designed to bring the research community and other interested parties such as the Bay of Fundy whale watching industry together in order to address areas of mutual concern and to coordinate research on the North Atlantic right whale.

 

 

 

 

North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium

Will Meet in New Bedford October 29 and 30

 

 The Annual Meeting of the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium will be held October 29-30 at the New Bedford Whaling Museum in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The new venue, the Whaling Museum Theatre at 18 Johnny Cake Hill, should provide more space and improved audio-visual performance. New Bedford should also provide less expensive hotels.

 

The agenda will include presentations of papers on right whale biology, population status, distribution, habitat, shipping and fishing issues and acoustics. In addition, several working group sessions are being planned, including one on GIS and another on demography and population dynamics. The GIS session is being organized by Leslie Ward of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (Leslie.Ward@fwc.state.fl.us). The session will be used to share ideas, information and techniques for ongoing and proposed GIS projects, and to insure that researchers involved in GIS studies don't duplicate efforts already undertaken by others.

 

The demography and population dynamics working group session is being organized by Dr. Hal Caswell of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (hcaswell@whoi.edu). The session will examine demography and population dynamics as critical problems for any endangered species and especially for species such as the right whale that are threatened by human activities. The session will also provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and methods and a way to foster interaction and collaboration. To participate in either or both of these working groups, contact the session organizers.

 

Advance registration for the annual meeting is required. The registration fee includes refreshments and a copy of the Abstracts of the presented papers. For registration information, email your name, affiliation, street address, e-mail address and telephone number to the Consortium Secretary, Marilyn Marx, at the New England Aquarium: mmarx@neaq.org She will send out a draft agenda, a list of hotels and other preliminary information in August to those on the Consortium e-mail list. To make a presentation, submit a title to Marilyn Marx by September 1.

 

 

 

 

Twenty-two Years of Right Whale Sightings and Survey Efforts on GIS

 

The New England Aquarium has completed a project in which right whale sightings and survey efforts over a 22-year period from 1978 to 2000 are plotted on a Geographic Information System (GIS). The information can be found on the web at www.marinegis.org under News.

 

The Aquarium hopes to be able to continue the project, adding additional years of data and expanding the number of data layers to include opportunistic sightings. For further information or if you have questions regarding data or data access, contact Amy Knowlton at the New England Aquarium: aknowlton@neaq.org

 

Funding for the project was provided by the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

 

 

 

Brazilian Right Whale Project Celebrates 20 Years

By José Palazzo

Coordinator, Brazilian Right Whale Project

 

 

The Brazilian Right Whale Project - Projeto Baleia Franca - the longest-running cetacean research project in Brazil, will celebrate its 20th anniversary in September. Recent achievements of the Project include the establishment of the Right Whale National Environmental Protection Area off Santa Catarina State and the reconstruction of the last whaling station in Southern Brazil as a site for the Right Whale Museum, first of its kind in South America.

 

A partnership with PETROBRAS, the Brazilian state-owned oil company, was just signed and will allow the Project to build its research headquarters in Imbituba, Santa Catarina, next to the main breeding ground for right whales in Brazil. The partnership will also allow the Project to step up its photo-ID and behavioral studies, as well as to prepare and distribute new educational materials for the growing numbers of whale watchers that visit Imbituba in the austral winter to see right whales.

 

The Brazilian Right Whale Project is maintained by the International Wildlife Coalition. More information is available from info@baleiafranca.org.br The Project website, in Portuguese, is www.baleiafranca.org.br A web page in English is expected to be ready later in 2002.

 

 

 

Scientific Literature and Reports

 

Anon. 2002. Gerry E. Studds Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, State of the Sanctuary Report. Available from the Sanctuary office, 781-545-8026.

 

Hoekstra, P. F., T. M. O'Hara, S. J. Pallant, K. R. Solomon and D. C. G. Muir. 2002. Bioaccumulation of organochlorine contaminants in bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) from Barrow, Alaska. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 42 (4):497-507. Biomagnification factor values were consistent with findings for other mystecetes, including right whales.

 

Knowlton, A. K., J. Beaudin Ring, R. D. Kenney and B. A. Russell. 2002. GIS presentation of survey tracklines, right whale sightings and right whale movements: 1978-2000. Contract report submitted to the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

 

Marine Mammal Commission. 2002. Annual Report to Congress 2001. Marine Mammal Commission, Bethesda, MD. 253 pp. This report provides a review of national and international marine mammal activities during the past year.

 

Mead, J. G. 2001. Right Whale. Encyclopedia Britannica (on-line edition), Chicago.

 

Merrick, R. L., P. J. Clapham, T. V. N. Cole, P. Gerrior and R. M. Pace III. 2001. Identification of seasonal area management zones for North Atlantic right whale conservation. Northeast Fisheries Science Center Reference document 01-14. Accessible through the NEFSC web site: www.nefsc.nmfs.gov/nefsc/publications

 

Reeves, R. R., R. Rolland and P. J. Clapham. 2001. Causes of reproductive failure in North Atlantic right whales: New avenues of research. Report of a workshop held 26-28 April 2000, Falmouth, Massachusetts. Northeast Fisheries Science Center Reference document 01-16. Accessible through the NEFSC web site: www.nefsc.nmfs.gov/nefsc/publications

 

 

 

 

Calendar of Events

 

July 1-October 18: Public comment period for the draft management plan for the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Several public meetings are scheduled for September and October. Meeting dates, times, locations and other information are posted on the Sanctuary's web site: www.stellwagen.nos.noaa.gov For additional information, contact Kate Van Dine at 781-545-8026, ext. 203 or Kate.VanDine@noaa.gov

 

September 1: Deadline for submitting presentation titles for the Annual Meeting of the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium (see article, page 9) to Marilyn Marx at: mmarx@neaq.org

 

September 17-18: Next meeting of the Canadian North Atlantic Right Whale Recovery Team, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. For additional information, contact Jerry Conway at 902-426-6947 or ConwayJ@mar.dfo-mpo.gc.ca

 

October 17-18: Fall meeting of the Southeast U.S. Right Whale Recovery Plan Implementation Team. Location to be determined. For further information, contact team chair Barb Zoodsma at 912-264-7218 or Barb_Zoodsma@mail.dnr.state.ga.us

 

October 29-30: Annual meeting of the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium, New Bedford, Massachusetts (see article on page 9). To submit a paper, register (required), or for further information, contact Marilyn Marx at: mmarx@neaq.org or 617-973-6584.

 

December 14-19, 2003: 15th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, Greensboro, North Carolina. Sponsored by the Society for Marine Mammalogy. For more information, visit the SMM web site: http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~smm/

 

 

 

 Right Whale News

 

Right Whale News is the newsletter of the Southeastern U.S. Right Whale Recovery Plan Implementation Team and the Northeast Implementation Team. The editor is Hans Neuhauser. The editorial board consists of Bill Brooks, Moe Brown, Phil Clapham, Jerry Conway, Jim Hain, Scott Kraus, Mike Payne, Sigrid Sanders and Jerry Wallmeyer.

 

The Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary, the Massachusetts Environmental Trust, the Southeast Regional Office of NOAA Fisheries, the Northeast Implementation Team and the Savannah Presbytery's M. K. Pentecost Ecology Trust Fund (www.savannahpresbytery.org) underwrite the costs of Right Whale News. Thanks to their support, Right Whale News is published quarterly and is distributed free of charge.

 

The current issue of Right Whale News is now available on line at a web site maintained by the Georgia Environmental Policy Institute: www.GEPInstitute.com An index of the first eight years of Right Whale News (1994-2001) is available along with current and back issues on the Internet, thanks to Alex Score and Marcy Lee of the Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary. The web site address is: http://www.graysreef.nos.noaa.gov/rightwhalenews.html

 

To subscribe to Right Whale News or to submit news, articles or commentary for publication, contact the editor, Hans Neuhauser, at the Georgia Environmental Policy Institute, 380 Meigs Street, Athens, GA 30601, USA. Telephone 706-546-7507. Fax 706-613-7775. E-mail gepi@ix.netcom.com