Endangered Right Whale Spotted North of Cape Cod Bay

April 20, 2016 Leave a Comment

FILE - In this April 10, 2008 file photo, a North Atlantic right whale dives in Cape Cod Bay near Provincetown, Mass. The endangered whales increasingly are frequenting the bay, enticed by the fine dining possibilities of its plankton-rich waters. They foraged in the bay for centuries, where their numbers were decimated when whalers hunted them for their oil and plastic-like baleen bone. For a stretch in the late 1990s, fewer than 30 whales were sighted each year. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia, File)

FILE – In this April 10, 2008 file photo, a North Atlantic right whale dives in Cape Cod Bay (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia, File)

NAHANT — The harbormaster in Nahant says a North Atlantic right whale was spotted swimming off the coast Tuesday.

New England Aquarium spokesman Tony LaCasse said the whale most likely made its way to Nahant from Cape Cod Bay, a popular spot for right whales to feed on plankton in April.

LaCasse says right whales are the most endangered species of large whales in the Atlantic. There are only about 500 in the world.

Harbormaster Robert Tibbo says the whale was first seen swimming along the eastern shore between Nahant and Swampscott around noon on Tuesday.

LaCasse called the sighting “unusual but not unheard of” for the area, although the whale’s close proximity to the coast was considered particularly rare.

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