Researchers from the New England Aquarium in Boston have confirmed the presence off the coast of New England gray whale, extinct in the Atlantic Ocean two centuries ago. The animal was encountered during a flight 50 kilometers south of Nantucket, Massachusetts (USA).
This was reported by the New England Aquarium on its page on the X network.
These marine giants were almost completely exterminated during the era of commercial whaling. The whale, which weighs up to 27,215 pounds, normally lives in the North Pacific Ocean. It disappeared from the Atlantic Ocean as early as the 18th century, but in the last 15 years there have been 5 documented sightings of this animal in Atlantic and Mediterranean waters.
"My brain was trying to process what I was seeing because this animal was something that really shouldn't exist in these waters. We laughed because it was wild and exciting to see an animal that had been missing from the Atlantic for hundreds of years." years ago!" said science technician Kate Laemmle.
Scientists say they were excited to see the animal, but its appearance is likely linked to a warming planet. They said the Northwest Passage, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans via the Arctic Ocean in Canada, has been free of ice in the summer in recent years, meaning gray whales can move freely.
Photo: New England Aquarium
Orla O'Brien, an associate scientist at the New England Aquarium's Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life, says the animal's appearance off the New England coast serves as "a reminder of how quickly marine species respond to climate change when they get the chance."
Today, whale numbers have recovered enough that the International Union for Conservation of Nature considers them a species of "least concern." However, the organization believes that the western population of whales living off the coast of Asia is in danger of extinction.
In an incredibly rare event, our #AndersonCabotCenter aerial survey team spotted a gray whale off the New England coast last week, a species that has been extinct in the Atlantic for more than 200 years! 😮
More: https://t.so/skzhKH3zk29 #AerialSurvey #GrayWhale pic.twitter.com/skOzkaZhTsOA
— New England Aquarium (@NEAQ) March 5, 2024
The other day, EcoPolitic told me that The World Wildlife Fund wants to relocate two male bison from the Vinnytsia region to the Zalesye National Natural Park in order to save the local bison herd from extinction , because all 4 of its adult males died at the beginning of a full-scale invasion.
