NOAA Northeast Region Aerial Whale Surveys

North Atlantic Right Whale | credit: NOAA Fisheries

A series of aerial surveys could provide important clues about whale movements off the New England Coast.

NOAA Fisheries scientists and colleagues from state and non-profit organizations conducted aerial surveys in the Northeast region through December 2019.

Additional flights are scheduled to occur in February, 2020.

During upcoming surveys, scientists hope to locate right whales in and near Nantucket Shoals.

Whales have been aggregating in the area recently, according to mariner's reports. NOAA scientists will also survey other areas where right whales were seen in the past.

Two recent aerial surveys used NOAA Twin Otter aircraft. The Northeast center’s aerial whale survey team conducts one based at Air Station Cape Cod.

Center staff and colleagues from other marine research organizations conducted a survey specifically for AMAPPS last fall, based at Barnstable Municipal Airport in Hyannis, Massachusetts.

Related Information

Wildlife in New England

2020 Icebreaking Season (Northeast)

USCG Tug Bollard | credit: USCG

The 2020 U.S. Coast Guard icebreaking season has begun, as winter’s cold temperatures are anticipated to impact ports, waterways, and harbors in the Northeast.

Each winter, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) conducts icebreaking efforts throughout coastal New England.

Icebreaking is often needed on the Merrimack River, Kennebec River, Connecticut River, Penobscot Bay, Boston Harbor, Cape Cod Bay, Buzzard's Bay, Narragansett Bay, Long Island Sound, and other waterways.

Operation Reliable Energy for Northeast Winters (OpRENEW) is the Coast Guard's region-wide effort to ensure Northeast communities have the security, supplies, energy, and emergency resources they need throughout the winter.

Of the heating oil used in the country, more than 85 percent is consumed in the Northeast, and 90 percent of that is delivered on a Coast Guard maintained waterway by ship.

The Coast Guard's domestic icebreaking operations are intended to facilitate navigation within reasonable demands of commerce and minimize waterways closures during the winter, while enabling commercial vessels to transit through ice-covered critical channels.

Coast Guard crews are also replacing aids to navigation with special ice buoys designed to ride underneath ice and remain on location.

A coordinated effort with the maritime industry ensures the vital ports of the Northeast remain open year-round.

source: U.S. Coast Guard 1st District Northeast