Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Right Whales off Blacks Harbour!

Hello There, it's Danielle with Quoddy Link Marine. Even though our whale watching season is over we are getting reports and sightings of many whales very close to home. As our owner and captain John Eldridge was returning from hauling one of our boats out for the winter they decided to do a small survey and see see if they could confirm some possible sightings of right whales between Blacks and Beaver Harbour. They did more than confirm, they reported about 12 right whales in a small 3 mile area and all within a mile from shore. Above is a photo taken by John, note that the whale is missing it's right fluke tip.

Also posted today on the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies (PCCS) Entanglement Updates website there was a right whale that was entrapped and released on November 5th from a fishing weir in Deadmans Harbour (between Blacks and Beaver Harbour). The picture below was taken by the Campobello Rescue Team, and please note that the date on the photo is incorrect. Mackie Greene, head of Campobello Whale Rescue was called and with the help of divers, local fisherman, researchers on Grand Manan, DFO and advice from the PCCS disentanglement team the right whale was released unharmed. The whale that was entrapped was reported to be missing it's right fluke tip so it may have been the same right whale that John spotted on November 3rd in that area. Mackie Greene reported atleast 30-50 right whales on November 5th, that's just incredible as this part of the Bay of Fundy is not a known right whale habitat.Thanks so much for checking in and I will make sure to bring you more updates as they are passed along. Take Care!