NOAA Fisheries implements slow zone after right whale detection in Cape Cod Bay

Courtesy of NOAA Fisheries

HYANNIS – NOAA Fisheries has announced two new slow zones for right whales, including Cape Cod Bay.

The restrictions are in place through December 20th after the whales were discovered last Friday. The other slow zone is east of Ocean City, Maryland, using a buoy that was operated partly by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

To see the coordinates of the zones, click here.

The right whales seen in Cape Cod Bay were reported by the Center for Coastal Studies Aerial Survey Team.

Mariners are requested to avoid or transit at 10 knots or less.

Endangered North Atlantic right whales are approaching extinction. According to NOAA Fisheries, there are approximately 360 individuals remaining, including fewer than 70 reproductively active females. Human impacts continue to threaten the survival of this species.

In August 2017, NOAA Fisheries declared the increase in right whale mortalities an “Unusual Mortality Event,” which helps the agency direct additional scientific and financial resources to investigating, understanding, and reducing the mortalities in partnership with the Marine Mammal Stranding Network, Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and outside experts from the scientific research community.