THE NEWSLETTER OF THE SOUTHEASTERN U.S. IMPLEMENTATION TEAM FOR THE
RECOVERY OF THE NORTHERN RIGHT WHALE
VOLUME I, NUMBER 1 JULY, 1994
WELCOME TO THE RIGHT WHALE NEWS
Right Whale News is a new quarterly publication of the
Southeastern U.S. Implementation Team for the Recovery of the
Northern Right Whale. It is produced with the intent of increasing
the efficiency and effectiveness of recovery efforts for the world's
most endangered large whale, the Northern Right Whale, Eubalaena
glacialis. The special focus of the newsletter will be on efforts
in the Atlantic coast of the southeastern United States: the only
known calving ground for the species. Relevant information from other
areas will be included from time to time and as space allows.
Right Whale News is for people who are participating in the
efforts to bring the Northern Right Whale back from the brink of
extinction. Participation is broadly defined, so as to include
everyone who is actively involved: ship operators, harbor pilots,
port authorities, fishermen, educators, scientists, managers, policy
makers, non-governmental organizations and other concerned
citizens.
The Right Whale News is edited by Hans Neuhauser. The
editorial board consists of Bill Brooks, Scott Kraus, Barb Zoodsma,
Lorraine Guise and Jerry Wallmeyer. At present, the production of the
newsletter is underwritten by the Institute of Community and Area
Development (ICAD) of the University of Georgia. To subscribe, send
your name and address to the editor, Hans Neuhauser, at ICAD,
University of Georgia, 1234 South Lumpkin Street, Athens, GA
30602-3553; telephone 706-542-3350, fax 706-542-6189.
Submissions of news or articles for publication in Right Whale
News are encouraged.
CRITICAL HABITAT DESIGNATED
On June 3, 1994, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
published the Final Rule designating Critical Habitat for the
Northern Right Whale (Federal Register, Vol. 59, number 106, pages
28793 - 28808). After consideration of public comment and based on
the best available scientific information, the NMFS designated
critical habitat as described in the proposed rule (Federal Register
Vol. 58, p. 29186). The effective date for the Final Rule was July 5,
1994.
The designated habitat includes portions of Cape Cod Bay and
Stellwagen Bank, the Great South Channel (each off the coast of
Massachusetts) and waters adjacent to the coasts of Georgia and the
east coast of Florida. The three areas designated as Critical Habitat
are the same as proposed in the Right Whale Recovery Team's petition
(May 18, 1990 and Federal Register Vol. 55, p. 28670). In the
southeast, the specific area designated as critical habitat
"encompasses waters between 310 15'N (approximately located at the
mouth of the Altamaha River, GA) and 300 15'N (approximately
Jacksonville, FL) from the shoreline out to 15 nautical miles
offshore; and the waters between 300 15'N and 280 00'N (approximately
Sebastian Inlet, FL) from the shoreline out to 5 nautical miles."
This area is depicted on the "Caution Mariners" placard that the
Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Georgia
Department of Natural Resources and others are distributing to
mariners and other interested parties in the southeast.
The designation provides notice to Federal agencies and the public
that the right whale is dependent on these areas and features for its
continued existence and that any Federal action that may affect these
areas or features is subject to the consultation requirements of
section 7 of the Endangered Species Act.
While no additional regulations accompany the designation, as some
commentors had recommended, the designation does help focus Federal,
state and private attention on the designated areas. In addition,
some incremental protection is provided in those cases where a
proposed action may not directly impact right whales but may affect
the whale's habitat (for instance, actions that will occur in the
critical habitat but at a time when the right whales are not
present.)
For a copy of the Final Rule, contact the Director, Office of
Protected Resources, NMFS, 1335 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD
20910.
Mike Payne, Protected Species Management Division, NMFS
BAD NEWS FROM THE NORTH
Last December, a 30 to 35 foot long female right whale was killed off
Cape Charles, Virginia, probably by a passing ship. The loss of a
juvenile female is bad enough, but for this one, we also lost
information that could have been of value to both science and the
recovery effort. While the fresh carcass was observed and
photographed by NMFS personnel, it took six months for word of the
event to reach the scientists who would have been able to salvage the
carcass. Efforts are underway to try to improve the system for
reporting dead right whales, as called for in the Right Whale
Recovery Plan (Objective 2, page 27).
In February, 1994, a right whale calf (#2404) was injured off the
Florida coast. The cut flukes and the head scars suggested that the
animal had been entangled in large mesh fishing gear and struck by a
propeller. The severe nature of the injury led to speculation that
the animal may not survive, particularly after being weaned from its
mother. The animal was last seen on February 23 east of Amelia
Island. As of July 12, neither the injured calf nor its mother
(#1004) have been seen in northern waters. Scott Kraus of the New
England Aquarium provides a word of caution: "we don't yet know what
this means."
In June, a dead male right whale - some 38 feet long - was found on
Kent Island in the Bay of Fundy.
THE SOUTHEASTERN U.S. IMPLEMENTATION TEAM
In drafting the "Final Recovery Plan for the Northern Right Whale,
Eubalaena glacialis," the Right Whale Recovery Team recognized
that the plan, when adopted by the National Marine Fisheries Service
(NMFS), was not the end of the recovery effort but the beginning:
"Cooperation and support by many Federal, state, local and private
organizations will be needed to implement the objectives of this
recovery plan. To help initiate the implementation of this plan, an
Implementation Committee should be developed. The committee should
include representatives of [appropriate] agencies including
representatives of foreign governments as necessary. The
representatives should be the contact on matters related to recovery
efforts."
The NMFS decided that, as a matter of practicality, that there should
be two regionally based implementation teams, one in the southeast
and one in the northeast. In the southeast, the NMFS provided funds
to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the Florida
Department of Environmental Protection to, among other things, create
a Southeastern U.S. Implementation Team for the Recovery of the
Northern Right Whale. The SEUS Implementation Team has been formed
and has held several meetings to review progress and discuss future
recovery efforts. The next team meeting is scheduled for November 9,
1994, in Brunswick, GA. For more information, contact Mike Harris
(see below).
As of July, 1994, the team members are:
CHAIRMAN
MIKE HARRIS
Nongame/Endangered Wildlife Program
Georgia Dept. of Natural Resources
One Conservation Way
Brunswick, GA 31523-8600
Tel. 912-264-7218
Fax 912-262-3143
HANS NEUHAUSER
Institute of Community and Area Development
University of Georgia
1234 South Lumpkin Street
Athens, GA 30602-3552
Tel. 706-542-3350
Fax 706-542-6189
MEMBERS
BEN BLAYLOCK, Ph.D.
Southeast Fisheries Center
Miami Laboratory
National Marine Fisheries Service
75 Virginia Beach Drive
Miami, FL 33149
Tel. 305-361-4299
Fax 305-361-4219
RUDY NYC
Planning Directorate
CESAD PD-R
South Atlantic Division
U. S. Army Corps of Engineers
77 Forsythe Street, SW
Atlanta, GA 30335-6801
Tel. 404-331-4619
Fax 404-331-7078
BILL BROOKS
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
Florida Marine Research Institute
7825 Baymeadows Way, Suite 200B
Jacksonville, FL 32256-7577
Tel. 904-448-4300, ext. 229
Fax 904-448-4366
CHUCK ORAVETZ
Protected Species Management Branch
Southeast Regional Office
National Marine Fisheries Service
9450 Koger Boulevard
St. Petersburg, FL 33702
Tel. 813-893-3366
Fax 813-893-3111
LTJG DEAN COUSINS
Submarine Group 10, Attention N33
1050 USS Georgia Avenue
Kings Bay, GA 31547-2609
Tel. 912-673-8373
Fax 912-673-4332
DUNCAN POWELL
Assessment and Allocation Unit
U. S. Environmental Protection Agency
345 Courtland Street, NE
Atlanta, GA 30365
Tel. 404-347-2126
Fax 404-347-3269
CHARLES GRIFFEN
Director of Port Planning and Harbor Development
Georgia Ports Authority
P. O. Box 2406
Savannah, GA 31402
Tel. 912-964-3882
Fax 912-966-3615
VICTORIA ROBAS
Port of Fernandina
Nassau Terminals
P. O. Drawer 1543
Fernandina Beach, FL 32035-1543
Tel. 904-261-0753
Fax 904-261-4407
LORRAINE GUISE
Canaveral Port Authority
P. O. Box 267
Cape Canaveral, FL 32920
Tel. 407-783-7831
Fax 407-784-6223 RICHARD ROOTH
Commander
Commandant (G NIO)
U. S. Coast Guard
2100 2nd Street, SW
Washington, DC 20513
Tel 202-267-1456
Fax 202-267-4425
VIRGINIA GUNN
Commissioner, Glynn County
102 Fraser Street
St. Simons Island, GA 31522
Tel. 912-634-9429
Fax 912-634-1872
JOSEPH (Jerry) WALLMEYER
COMNAVBASE Jacksonville
Code N 3 - Box 102
Naval Air Station Jacksonville
Jacksonville, FL 32212-0102
Tel. 904-772-5216
Fax 904-772-4009
A SURVEY OF RIGHT WHALE EDUCATIONAL EFFORTS IN THE SOUTHEAST
Education is an important part of the effort needed to bring the
Northern Right Whale back from the brink of extinction.
Unfortunately, limited resources - of talent, funds and time -
justify the need for efficiency in the delivery of right whale
educational programs, materials, exhibits and other activities. In an
initial attempt to increase the efficiency of right whale educational
efforts, a telephone survey was conducted in the spring of 1994 to
determine what the current status of right whale educational activity
was in the southeast. The survey would serve as a basis for
identifying efforts that overlapped or duplicated other efforts. It
would also identify areas where further effort might be needed and
where collaboration might be beneficial.
The survey revealed that a number of target audiences are being
reached with right whale education efforts, including ship operators
and harbor pilots, small boat operators, museum and nature center
visitors, teachers, schools, members of organizations, the news media
and the general public. The nature of the educational offerings
included exhibits (museum exhibits and murals), publications
(newsletters and teachers' guides), materials (videos, slide shows,
placards, posters, fact sheets, coffee mugs and decals) and
activities (news releases, radio and television, training, programs
and adopt-a-whale programs).
Among the major educational efforts underway are:
* Aguar Brothers Film Productions offer copies of "The Fate of the
Right Whale: It's Up to You" video describing the risk of ship
collisions to right whales. They also maintain extensive film footage
of right whales that can be used in the production of videos and
television programs.
* To avoid collisions with whales, the Canaveral Port Authority, the
Georgia Ports Authority, the Jacksonville Port Authority and the Port
of Fernandina provide "Post-it" notes to be affixed to navigation
charts of vessels entering and leaving their respective ports. The
notes urge "caution" and "yield" in right whale habitat from December
through March.
* The Canaveral Port Authority also publishes a brochure urging
mariners to watch for and yield to whales, turtles and manatees.
* The Coastal Naturalist is preparing television programs that will
include the right whale.
* The Fernbank Natural History Museum in Atlanta is hosting the
robotics exhibit, "Whales: Giants of the Deep" from October 1, 1994
through January 15, 1995. The exhibit will include information on the
right whale.
* The Florida Department of Environmental Protection distributes
warning placards to vessel operators and others. They also provide
training seminars for harbor pilots and vessel operators. A slide
show has also been prepared. See separate note regarding their
poster.
* The Georgia Department of Natural Resources also distributes
warning placards and provides training for pilots and others. They
are also producing a poster with general information about the right
whale on it.
* Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary has provided financial
support to the University of Georgia's Marine Extension Center for
the production of teacher handbooks and a classroom poster that
features a life-sized baby right whale.
* The Jacksonville Museum of Science and History is preparing an
exhibit, scheduled to open in 1996, that will include materials on
the right whale.
* The New England Aquarium provides others with much of the factual
information on right whales in southeastern U.S. waters. They
maintain a right whale adoption program and cooperate with the Ocean
Society in their adoption program.
* In addition to its adoption program, the Ocean Society distributes
educational kits to teachers. They sponsored California artist
Wyland's painting of the "whaling wall" - a city block long mural of
five life-sized right whales in downtown Atlanta.
* The Savannah Science Museum recently opened an exhibit "Endangered
Giants of the Georgia Coast" featuring the right whale and the
loggerhead turtle. The exhibit includes the skeleton of the baby
whale whose discovery helped initiate the definition of the Southeast
U.S. right whale calving ground.
* The Save the Beach organization has produced coffee mugs
identifying the "Northern Right Whale Calving Grounds St. Simons
Island, GA."
* Sea World is preparing a television show on whales, including the
right whale. It is scheduled for broadcast on January 6, 1995. They
are also planning a symposium on whales, including the right whale;
it will be held in February, 1995.
* The U.S. Coast Guard provides both written and broadcast notices
during the calving season.
* The U.S. Navy trains its personnel, including crews at the Naval
Submarine Base, Kings Bay, and surface ships at Naval Station
Mayport, as well as helicopter and patrol aircraft crews flying out
of Naval Air Station Jacksonville and Naval Station Mayport.
A copy of the complete survey results may be obtained by contacting
Hans Neuhauser at the Institute of Community and Area Development,
University of Georgia, 1234 South Lumpkin Street, Athens, Georgia
30602; tel. 706-542-3350.
Hans Neuhauser, University of Georgia
"WANTED - RIGHT WHALE SIGHTINGS" POSTER AVAILABLE
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) has updated
and printed 9,000 copies of the "Wanted - Right Whale Sightings"
poster. Free copies are available from FDEP. Contact Bill Brooks,
FDEP, Florida Marine Research Institute, 7825 Baymeadows Way, Suite
200B, Jacksonville, FL 32256-7577; telephone 904-448-4300, extension
229.
1994 - 1995 WORK PLAN
The Southeastern U.S. Implementation Team for the Recovery of the
Northern Right Whale (Team) will be actively involved with numerous
efforts to protect right whales while they are in southeastern
Georgia and northeastern Florida during the 1994/95 calving season.
Conservation efforts will fall into three general categories:
education, Early Warning System surveys and research.
Georgia Department of Natural Resources' Nongame/Endangered Wildlife
Program (GDNR) and Florida Department of Environmental Protection's
Marine Research Institute (FDEP) will again be jointly presenting
educational seminars to mariners associated with various ports and
government installations. These seminars, slated to begin in
November, inform mariners about right whales and their plight, how to
recognize a right whale, how the Early Warning System operates, and
what to do if a right whale is spotted. Educational materials such as
video tapes, placards, posters, and brochures are distributed at the
seminars and are available to other interested parties. Last year,
with the assistance of representatives from port authorities and
government installations such as the Navy and Coast Guard, GDNR and
FDEP biologists were able to address approximately 100 mariners at
six locations along the Georgia and Florida coasts.
In addition to replicating last year's educational efforts, this year
GDNR and FDEP plan to expand their educational campaigns to encompass
the commercial fishing industry. To round off the Team's educational
efforts during the calving season, the U.S. Coast Guard will be
broadcasting daily notices to mariners via marine band radio; and a
written local notice to mariners will be published weekly. The
designated Critical Habitat (see previous article) will eventually be
published on NOAA nautical charts.
The Early Warning System will again be carried out during the
upcoming calving season. This effort is a cooperative effort on the
part of many Team members, the agencies they represent, and other
biologists. Aerial surveys comprise the hub of the system and will be
flown daily (weather permitting) from 1 December to 31 March. Aerial
coverage will approximate that of last year and also similar to last
year, east-west transects will be flown. Locations of whales sighted
during surveys will be relayed to harbor pilots, ports, and military
installations. If whales are sighted, in or near a shipping channel,
area vessels and harbor pilots will be contacted directly by the
survey plane and alerted to the presence of the whale(s). Vessels
will be asked to reduce their speed to the minimum speed necessary to
maintain safe steerage. This speed reduction is requested as a
voluntary measure on the part of harbor pilots during the above
mentioned training seminars.
Details have yet to be ironed out regarding research aspects of the
1994 - 1995 work plan; however, among the list of "things to do" are
(1) produce a document summarizing or characterizing the physical
attributes of the calving area, (2) investigate alternative methods
of detecting whales and (3) use radio telemetry to monitor
small-scale temporal and spatial movements and habitat utilization.
One thing, however, is clear: right whales observed during the Early
Warning System aerial surveys will be photographed for possible
inclusion in the Right Whale Consortium Catalog currently maintained
by the New England Aquarium. Researchers are able to track
reproduction and movements of individual whales using the catalog.
Ultimately this information gives the best insights into trends of
the North Atlantic population of right whales as a whole.
Barb Zoodsma, GDNR, and Bill Brooks, FDEP
RECENT SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE
Brown, M. W., S. D. Kraus, D. E. Gaskin, and B. N. White. In press.
Sexual composition and analysis of reproductive females in the North
Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) population. Marine
Mammal Science.
Carretta, J. V., M. S. Lynn, and C. A. LeDuc. 1994. Right whale
(Eubalaena glacialis) sighting off San Clemente Island,
California. Marine Mammal Science 10(1): 101 - 105.
Ford, T. J., and S. D. Kraus. 1992. A rete in the right whale. Nature
359: 680.
Heyning, J. E., J. G. Mead, and M. M. Bryden. 1993. A palatal rete in
the right whale? Nature 361: 24 - 25.
Kenney, R. D., and S. D. Kraus. 1993. Right whale mortality - a
correction and an update. Marine Mammal Science 9(4): 445 - 446.
Kenney, R. D., H. E. Winn, and M. C. Macaulay. In press. Cetaceans in
the Great South Channel, 1979 - 1989; Right Whales (Eubalaena
glacialis). Continental Shelf Research 14.
Knowlton, A. R., S. D. Kraus, and R. D. Kenney. In press.
Reproduction in North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena
glacialis). Canadian Journal of Zoology.
Knowlton, A. R., J. Sigurjonsson, J. N. Ciano, and S. D. Kraus. 1992.
Long-distance movements of North Atlantic right whales, (Eubalaena
glacialis). Marine Mammal Science 8(4): 397 - 405.
Kraus, S. D., R. D. Kenny, A. R. Knowlton, and J. N. Ciano. 1993.
Endangered Right Whales of the Southwestern North Atlantic. Final
Report. Minerals Management Service, Contract No. 14-35-0001-30486.
Edgerton Research Laboratory, New England Aquarium, Boston, MA. 69
pages.
Mate, B. R., S. Nieukirk, R. Mesecar, and T. Martin. 1992.
Applications of Remote Sensing Methods for Tracking Large Cetaceans:
North Atlantic Right Whales (Eubalaena glacialis). Oregon
State University, Hatfield, OR.
Schaeff, C. M., S. D. Kraus, M. W. Brown, and B. N. White. 1993.
Assessment of the population structure of western North Atlantic
right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) based on sighting and mtDNA
data. Canadian Journal of Zoology 71: 339 - 345.
Amy Knowlton and Scott Kraus, New England Aquarium
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
SEPTEMBER 17 - OCTOBER 10, 1994: Coastweeks 1994. Wildlife is the
theme of the second week (Sept. 24 - 30); this will be a good
opportunity to teach citizens about the endangered right whale. For
further information (FFI), call the national coordinator for
Coastweeks, the Center for Marine Conservation, at 202-429-5609.
OCTOBER 1, 1994 - JANUARY 15, 1995: "Giants of the Deep" robotics
exhibit, Fernbank Natural History Museum, Atlanta. FFI, call
404-378-4314.
NOVEMBER 9, 1994: Meeting of the Southeastern U.S. Implementation
Team for the Recovery of the Northern Right Whale. Brunswick, Ga.
FFI, call Mike Harris at 912-264-7218.
NOVEMBER 14 - 16, 1994: American Society of Civil Engineers Dredging
Conference, Orlando, FL. FFI, call Lorraine Guise at
407-783-7831.
DECEMBER 1, 1994: Early Warning Surveys begin and Florida Department
of Environmental Protection coastal aerial surveys begin. These
surveys are flown until March 31, 1995. FFI: call Bill Brooks at
904-448-4300, ext. 229.