"Right whales in the midst of a revival; North Atlantic right whales, once the focus of dire extinction talk, have rebounded in recent years, but the once-hunted animals now face new threats" by Beth Daley | Globe Staff, March 17, 2013
Researchers remain deeply concerned about recent environmental changes, including global warming, that spell uncertainty for the creatures’ future....
This as a "surprise" spring snowstorm hits. Sigh.
Scientists say warming waters are probably causing some of the changes they are observing: Waters are warming off the Northeast — last year was the warmest ever recorded....
Yuh-huh.
And other threats are growing. Research shows the ocean is becoming noisier from ships and construction that may be interfering with the whales’ ability to communicate. New wind farms and oil and gas leases along the East Coast may soon contribute to that noise.
Yeah, forget about those other two things and their impact on the whales. It might interfere with the money and military machine that backs it. Just attribute it to global warming and hand over that damn carbon tax or whatever they want to call it. You aren't against the whales, are you?
Funding to study and understand the whales is threatened....
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Also see: Agencies fail to act on whale carcass
Do You Hear What I Hear?
All's Right With World
The Boston Globe's March of Meteorological Lies
Nothing right with that.
UPDATE:
"Endangered whales seen off Nantucket; Mariners asked to slow down" by Billy Baker | Globe Staff, February 20, 2013
Maggie Mooney-Seus, a spokesman for NOAA fisheries, said this is the beginning of the season when right whales will be migrating through the area, traveling from their nursery grounds off Georgia and Florida to their feeding ground in the Bay of Fundy in northern Maine and Canada.
“There are so few of these animals left that we take extra precautions,” Mooney-Seus said. “And it’s an animal that puts itself in harm’s way because it spends a lot of time at the surface and comes close to shore, increasing the risk of boat collisions and entanglement in fishing gear. They have so many factors against their recovery, but in spite of that, the population has shown a modest increase the last couple of years.”
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It has already been an unusual year for right whales in the Northeast. Last month, a mother and calf were spotted off Plymouth.
It is rare to see a calf in the cold waters this early in the year, said Mooney-Seus, and it is believed the pair were taking refuge in the warmer water around a power plant.
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