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We're at COP28 to Save the Whale, Save the World.

We’re at COP28 to save the whale, save the world

Ed Goodall Ed is WDC's head of intergovernmental engagement. He meets with world leaders to...
Gray whales from drone.

We’re taking steps to uncover the mysteries of whales

Vicki James Vicki is WDC's protected areas coordinator, she helps to create safe ocean spaces...
We must protect our non-human allies. Image: Tom Brakefield, aurore murguet, johan63

We’re urging governments to protect all of our climate heroes – CITES

Katie Hunter Katie supports WDC's engagement in intergovernmental conversations and is working to end captivity...
The Natütama Foundation are dedicated to protecting endangered river dolphins. Image: Natutama

Guardians of the Amazon: protecting the endangered river dolphins

Ali Wood Ali is WDC's education projects coordinator. She is the editor of Splash! and KIDZONE,...
Amazon river dolphins. Image: Fernando Trujillo/Fundacion Omacha

Amazon tragedy as endangered river dolphins die in hot water

Ali Wood Ali is WDC's education projects coordinator. She is the editor of Splash! and KIDZONE,...
Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin © Mike Bossley/WDC

WDC in Japan – Part 3: Restoring freedom to dolphins in South Korea

Katrin Matthes Katrin is WDC's communications and campaigns officer for policy & communication in Germany...
Wintery scene in Iceland

Seeking sanctuary – Iceland’s complex relationship with whales

Hayley Flanagan Hayley is WDC's engagement officer, specialising in creating brilliant content for our website...
Whaling ship Hvalur 8 arrives at the whaling station with two fin whales

A summer of hope and heartbreak for whales in Icelandic waters

Luke McMillan Luke is WDC's Head of hunting and captivity. Now that the 2023 whaling season...

Saving North Atlantic right whale habitats means saving the whales

PART 1

Over the years, I have watched North Atlantic right whales skim along the surface feeding on copepods, nudge each other in what seemed like play, and charge toward an inverted female attempting to mate.

All of these things happen in relatively predictable places and times of year.  Right whale habitats.

 I’ll never forget sailing out on a rainy summer day off southern Nova Scotia. Seas were choppy, and we’d resigned ourselves to a fog wetter than rain. Yet, after 5 or 6 hours of steady sailing straight out into the open sea, the sun came out, the sea calmed and we were suddenly in the midst of 30 right whales. This was Roseway Basin, a courtship area favored by the whales, which was in the middle of nowhere as far as I could determine. As we watched the whales play their courtship games, I was struck by the precision of the skipper’s knowledge about where the whales were found.

Right whales and other baleen whales travel the oceans, migrating thousands of miles every year. Yet like humpback, gray and some of the other better studied baleen whales, they travel along similar routes and return to some of the same habitats year after year, some of which we are still discovering. These specific areas are special to the whales for one reason or another.

In the cold, temperate waters of New England and the Bay of Fundy, such areas are where whales find dense patches of copepods and other food. By contrast, in the warm waters off the Southeast U.S., the habitat seems to be defined by water temperature and depth related to the best conditions for raising a newborn calf.

Still, as much as we can predict the location of certain habitats, the locations of portions of the population remain mysterious at any one time. We have to keep refining our knowledge of what constitutes a good habitat.

Right whales have large habitats as befits a large, highly mobile creature.  Compared to land, habitats in the sea for most species tend to be much larger, more fluid, with a certain amount of variation from year to year. But they are still definable and protecting these “homes for whales” is critical for their survival as well as a matter of legal responsibility in the U.S. and Canada with legislation that dictates a response when a species is endangered. The governments must try to locate and protect the troubled species’ critical habitat and follow up with a recovery plan.

Stay tuned for Part II next week!