The Right Whales are Heading South – What’s the (LNG) lesson?
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Approaches to Passamaquoddy Bay – See large view here

Depending on who you listen to, 40 – 50 northern right whales have finally left the Quoddy Region for their wintering grounds to the south. During this past month these spectacular endangered animals have dramatically and once more, laid claim to their ancestral habitat. Indeed, they have occurred within the 2 proposed LNG tanker lanes, the lanes that the proponents and their supporters have claimed would not be in the right whale summer range. Long-time professionals are well aware that this is not so. In addition, other cetaceans that are also listed to be of concern or endangered occur here as well and commonly up into Head Harbour Passage. In fact it is the Quoddy Ecosystem that is endangered!

It’s time to “fish or cut bait”. If we are truly concerned about our role as stewards to these great whales, then the LNG proposals in Passamaquoddy Bay must be brought to an end immediately and we should begin the process of determining how we can protect these important species as well as our historic way of life.

Frankly, some mechanism must be found to protect the West Isles and Cobscook area; an international marine protected area that will protect the natural assets of this important area AND our promising “eco-economy” based on fisheries, tourism, and aquaculture. A groundswell is needed to:

1. bring the LNG development to an end,
2. initiate an intelligent examination of mechanisms for protecting this area, and
3. to examine the options for development of a sustainable economy.

If we don’t decide now how we will develop the unique Quoddy Region, we may well lose this special “gift” that we all enjoy and from which we have all prospered.

Your comments and help are needed.

Art MacKay

Last of lingering North Atlantic right whales heading out of Bay of Fundy
Published: Friday, November 24, 2006 | 3:57 PM ET
Canadian Press: ALISON AULD

HALIFAX (CP) – Dozens of rare North Atlantic right whales that were lingering in the Bay of Fundy are finally heading out of the area, amid fears that some could become ensnared in dangerous fishing lines as they move south.

Officials said Friday that there were as few as three of the massive mammals in the bay, after more than 40 of them had delayed their departure by six weeks because of an abundance of plankton.

Jerry Conway of the Department of Fisheries said the endangered whales were trekking south on their annual migration and were spotted in the Gulf of Maine as they venture toward waters off Georgia and Florida.

But, he said he’s received unsubstantiated reports of whales becoming entangled in lengths of lobster line that create a hazard for the slow-moving creatures as they pass through the bay. Conway said fishermen have found some of their gear is missing, raising the possibility that it may be wrapped around some whales.

“There may be two or three whales entangled in gear,” he said. “It has been suggested that there is gear missing that may be showing up in the near future on whales.”

One whale was apparently freed from lobster gear by a fisherman who spotted it and managed to disentangle it. The move came after the start of the lobster fishery was delayed slightly by the whales’ presence in the bay.
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Lobster fishermen agreed not to set traps within two kilometres of a whale in a bid to prevent entanglements, while the Fisheries Department conducted aerial surveillance flights to track their movements.

Officials and conservation groups say the whale’s eventual departure caps a bleak season that saw the loss of two females and the deaths of a calf and adult that were hit by ships in the summer feeding grounds.

Both females were killed in Canadian waters, with one found to have 17 vertebrae in her back crushed in a ship collision.

“The loss of even one female right whale could have a significant impact on the ability of the species to survive,” said Conway. “The loss of two is a really serious impact.”

Conway said the two whales could have produced in excess of 20 calves over their lifetimes – a vital contribution to a population that has dwindled to about 320 worldwide after years of being slaughtered, dying in gear or being struck by ships.

About 19 right whales were born this year, but one calf was killed and a pregnant female died in U.S. waters.

Scientists and ecologists are hoping to reduce the risk of ship strikes by pressing the International Maritime Organization to make the Roseway Basin an area to be avoided by large vessels.

Whales migrate to the basin, a diverse ecosystem rich in marine life off the southwest coast of Nova Scotia, every year to feed on plankton and other food sources.

Lori Murrison of the Grand Manan Whale and Seaboard Research Station said Transport Canada has approved the initiative to issue an advisory to seafarers and is optimistic the international group will approve it, possibly next year.

“There can be a substantial number of right whales in that area in the summer time,” she said from Grand Manan, N.B. “So it is important to have that designated.”

If accepted, vessels would be asked to steer clear of the area from June through September while the whales are in the area, but Conway said the measure would be voluntary not binding.

The IMO altered shipping lanes in the Bay of Fundy in 2003 to create a buffer between passing vessels and right whales in the area.

Boat strikes and entanglement in fishing gear pose the greatest risks to the right whales.
© The Canadian Press, 2006

Right Whales Lay Claim to Historic Grounds

Ever since LNG Carpetbaggers Smith (Quoddy Bay LNG) and Girdis (Downeast LNG) decided to favour Passamaquoddy Bay with 2 LNG terminals and the promise of a huge LNG tanker virtually every day, there has been an ongoing debate about where endangered Northern Right Whales actually hang out.

Some of us old professionals have pointed out that right whales, fins, and minkes commonly foraged down into Head Harbour Passage to Friars Roads and even, on occasion, up into lower Passamaquoddy Bay itself. They commonly occurred just offshore of Head Harbour towards Grand Manan Banks and we encountered Rights in this area frequently while we were doing our biological surveys and collections in the 60s, 70s and early 80s. Closely associated with these feeding concentrations were thousands of seabirds, particularly phalaropes, sometimes present in the millions. The place was alive and fishermen caught tons of herring in Passamaquoddy Bay and up the St. Croix Estuary to Oak Bay. This was only a few short decades ago.

And then it changed. Something happened – near-shore pollution, nutrient loading – whatever it was the plankton populations dropped, the phalaropes disappeared, the herring stayed offshore, and the right whales came in only occasionally.

During this time the new biologists came and established their territory. They did good things too. Moved the Fundy Traffic Lanes towards Nova Scotia to avoid then current concentrations of right whales and established a right whale sanctuary in the area where they found concentrations. Unfortunately, this played into the hands of the LNG developers who insured everyone that their route would miss “ecologically sensitive areas” such as the right whale sanctuary. And people bought in. I was told by a Canadian Coast Guard official that whales didn’t occur into Head Harbour Passage. Years of experience and a desk-jockey knows all the answers!!

Efforts to inform officials about the historic distribution right whales met with contray public statements from the new biologists. Well the right whales have just staked out their historical birthright …. right on top of the 2 proposed LNG tanker routes into Passamaquoddy Bay. For a month now as many as 30, possibly up to 50, right whales have been feeding in Grand Manan Channel right up to Head Harbour Lighthouse, in the open water from there to the mainland New Brunswick shore and in close to land all the way from Blacks Harbour to Maces Bay.

The rights have “spoken”. This is their home territory and we are bound by law, morals, and good sense to protect them from any industrial port growth in Passamaquoddy Bay, particularly LNG.

The accompanying chart shows Fundy Traffic, 2 proposed LNG tanker routes (red), the Grand Manan Ferry route, (blue), the Right Whale Sanctuary off Grand Manan and the fall 2006 area of occurrence to the west. For more information on LNG go to: www.scep.org/LNG.html, www.savepassamaquoddybay.org, and www.bayoffundy.ca.

Art