North Atlantic right whale EgNo 5145 skim feeding in Cape Cod Bay, Nov. 18, 2024, NOAA Permit 25740-0
PROVINCETOWN/WELLFLEET – The Center for Coastal Studies has announced that an aerial survey conducted on Monday, November 18, 2024, by scientists from its Right Whale Ecology Program observed two juvenile North Atlantic Right Whales in Cape Cod Bay, the first sightings of the 2024-2025 field season.
One whale was sighted a mile off Plymouth’s Pilgrim Beach, while the other was spotted seven miles west of Wellfleet.
In an unusual find, one of the whales was observed skim-feeding for zooplankton near the water’s surface, a behavior not typically seen until later in the season.
The finding was not the only unusual event recorded by the aerial research team, as seven Risso’s dolphins were also spotted during the session in Bay waters far shallower than that which they usually frequent.
North Atlantic Right Whales frequent regional waters from early winter to mid-May, with over half of the remaining right whale population spotted in Cape Cod Bay during last year’s observation season.
About Matthew Tomlinson
