On 5th January 2009 at 16:40 a North Atlantic Right Whale, Eubalaena
glacialis, was observed off the Azores by biologists from the University of
the Azores Dept. of Oceanography and Fisheries (Monica Silva, Irma Cascão,
Maria João Cruz, Rui Guedes, and Norberto Serpa), as well as a biologist from
Whale Watch Azores (Lisa Steiner). The position of the animal was 38 22.698 N
and 28 30.341W. The animal was observed travelling in a Westerly direction for
just over an hour. Photographs of the callosities and flukes were taken for
photo-identification.
These photos were sent for comparison to the North Atlantic Right Whale
Catalogue currently maintained by the New England Aquarium
(www.rightwhaleweb.org). Philip Hamilton from the catalogue made a probable
match to whale 3270 from the catalogue and this was later confirmed when more
photographs were looked at. This whale was last seen in the Bay of Fundy on the
24th September 2008. The online North Atlantic Right Whale Catalogue has now
been updated with this latest information.
This is the first confirmed sighting of a right whale in the Azores since 1888.
These results will be published at a later date.
Any inquiries should be addressed to Monica Silva at DOP mon...@uac.ptor to
Lisa Steiner at w...@yahoo.com.
Thank you for your interest. Apologies for cross posting.
Monica Silva (Dept of Oceanography and Fisheries, University of the Azores)
http://www.horta.uac.pt/projectos/cetamarh/
Lisa Steiner (Whale Watch Azores)
http://www.whalewatchazores.com
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