The Gulf of Maine Oil Business – a Century Ago

Gooden Grant and the Giant Right Whale

I was poking around my library this weekend and among the treasures I took home was the June, 1974 edition of now defunct “Oceans”, one of my favorite magazines – good content and good design that holds up to today’s computer driven slicks. There, tucked away in an article about 98 year old Gooden Grant, the last old time fishermen from Head Harbor, Isle au Haut, was a description of a right whale that had drifted into the Harbor. The whole article gives a brilliant portrait of life one hundred years ago, but the whale tale was particularly revealing as it spoke to the continued pressure right whales have suffered along our Gulf of Maine coast for hundred of years.

Towed a whale in here to blubber him. Big whale, right whale, eighty-ninety feet long. Big as a mountain that fellow. Always thirty or forty fellas in here waiting for the weather. Happened to be an old whaler in here on a vessel, a mackerel catcher. He’d been around the Horn a good many times on whaling ships you know. They looked that big whale over and couldn’t see what killed him.

The old fellow come ashore and ‘Well,’ he said. ‘That whale right there’s got a bomb lance in him. That’s one of the best whales there is in the ocean. That’s one they pride themselves on. What they call a right whale,’ he says.

There was some laughed at him so he called for a ladder. Just to see the fun they fetched it for him. Had to be a long ladder and they put it up on the whale.

He went off and put his oil clothes on and came back with his own box of knives and sharp lances. He climbed aboard the head and started cutting in right around the blowhole.

He ripped up about a fifteen-foot-long piece of blubber and then he carved himself right in out of sight. We couldn’t see him unless we climbed up too. He cut himself right in along the backbone, said he was following the wound of the lance.

By and by he held a ten-foot harpoon in his hand. The old man climbed down and handed the harpoon to me. He took off his oilskins and nobody laughed at him again. My father had the lance on exhibition for years.

You can hear a song about Gooden here and access an interview about Gooden and his neighbours here.

Quote and photo from Gooden Grant Isle au Haut, Oceans, Vol. 7, No. 3, May-June, 1974. Copyright Lynn Franklin, 1972. Currier & Ives print of “A New England Whaler” from Wikipedia.com. Creative Commons License.

Whale Inhabitants – The Whale Louse & Delilah

Imagine having these guys crawling over your head. These whale lice were on Delilah a female right whale that was struck by a ship and ended up on a beach at Grand Manan Island in 1992. She is quite famous, since her skeleton was saved and now resides in the New Brunswick Museum in Saint John, NB. She was accompanied by a young “male” calf who was called Calvin. He was given slim chance for survival but surprised everyone by showing up alive in 2002, but with a rope entanglement around the mouth. Three years later he showed up again but with a calf of his … ahh her … own. Seems someone made a mistake years ago. A pretty special little whale Calvin. Just do a search “calvin right whale” to get the full story.

The Whale louse is a parasitic crustacean of the family Cyamidae, the only family in the infraorder Cyamida. Whale lice are external parasites, found in skin lesions, genital folds, nostrils, and eyes of marine mammals of the order Cetacea. These include not only whales but dolphins and porpoises as well. (Wikipedia)

Art

Two Female Rights with Rope Entanglement

Well another season begins. The possible loss of 2 mature female right whales is really serious. Hopefully this works out.

Scientists today are continuing to monitor two female right whales off Cape Cod that were spotted earlier this week with rope tangled in their mouths.

The entanglement is “relatively mild” and because the rope is not wrapped around other body parts, “no immediate threat exists,” according to a press release from the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies.

More ….

OUR RIGHTS WILL SOON BE COMING HOME TO FUNDY.

This link will show you where they are today. Book mark it or visit the bottom of the fundywhale.blogspot.com for a map of their current location.

This slide show shows them in Grand Manan Channel and at the mouth of Head Harbour right where giant LNG tankers want to go……one a day. Photos by Danielle Dion, Quoddy Link Marine.

The Worst Possible News for Right whales

Whale rescue program faces funding cuts

Provincetown Banner, USA – Mar 05, 2008

“Our federal government should be using every tool at its disposal to protect the remaining right whales, rather than making drastic cuts in a tremendously …

This news just came in today. It speaks to the lack of continuity that exists in all forms of ocean management today, both in Canada and the United States. Our politicians all talk about “sustainability”, but nothing truly is “sustainable”. When the hype is on, along come the buzzwords and the financial support but the truth is that there seems to be less and less understanding about ocean dynamics among our leadership and our poiliticos are easily distracted so that long-term management practices come and go like wisps of coastal fog. Unfortunately, the stakes continue to rise as do the losses. We can dump millions into destructive wars but the small half million dollar budget needed to support the dedicated individuals who risk their lives as stewards of the right whale are not worthy of this miniscule amount of funding?

Come on NOAA, turn some screws and get this group back in gear. Supporters everywhere need to write their representatives on all levels. Remember there is an election coming … some year!

That’s my opinion tonight.
Art

Photo courtesy PCCS – The PCCS whale rescue team gets to work on freeing a right whale from a fishing gear entanglement.

Interesting comments from savethewhales.org

At a recent marine mammal conference, it was demonstrated how the use of technology is enhancing whale research. During a 6-week-period, a right whale mother and her calf were documented 2 times in the Bay of Fundy.

In years past, it would have been assumed that they had remained in the bay for that time period. Since the mother was tagged and the pair tracked by satellite, researchers discovered that the twosome had not remained in the Bay of Fundy, but instead had traveled 2,500 miles.

It is speculated that the reason for this enormous journey is that the mother is making a parental investment and showing her calf feeding grounds. The breeding mothers, for unknown reasons, have different feeding ground imprints. If these mothers were killed, there would be a cultural extinction of that right whale feeding ground.

While the Southern population of whales is growing, the Northern population remains at 350. However, not all of these 350 animals are breeding. At the same conference, Dr. Charles “Stormy” Mayo said that the scientific community cannot wait until every item of a study has been analyzed. Scientists must take an active role with regard to the species they are studying. He was referring to Boston’s plan to send sewage to Stellwagen Banks, a critical whale feeding ground.

Inconclusive studies have been done to determine how much food a right whale needs and how sewage will affect copepods (mainstay of their diet). Dr. Mayo warned that the need for answers is immediate and desperate. Scientists speculate sewage will have a significant impact on whale feeding grounds. Feeding right whales depend on grouping of copepods.

Sewage could block sunlight diminishing copepods’ food source (plankton) and cause copepods to scatter. If they scatter, the whales will starve. In the case of right whales, any errors or accidents could mean extinction.

If you want to know more about the Southern Right Whale and other marine animals, visit http://www.savethewhales.org/

Can Atlantica’s Commercial Developers Live with Right Whale Rules?

From Fundy whale Blog

The battle continues as scientists and legislators continue to try to bring rules to bear that will protect the endangered Atlantic right whale. So far, industry has been fighting these efforts. The lobster fishing industry will need to absorb the increased cost for changes to suitable gear and time is money for coastal shipping. With a push to redevelop north-south Atlantica marine and land trade routes and increased traffic from coastal developments along the eastern seaboard, it is clear that ship strikes will rise. Consequently, the proposed change represent the only solution in my view. I think that we should get on with it. Can we adjust to insure a future for these endangered animals? What’s your opinion?

Headline
New Legislation Requires Bush Administration to Stop Procrastinating and Protect Endangered Whales

WASHINGTON, Feb 20, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ — Senator John Kerry today introduced legislation that would help protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales from injury and death due to ship strikes. The Ship Strike Reduction Act of 2008 would require the Bush Administration to finalize a rule establishing speed limits for specified vessels in migratory paths of North Atlantic right whales. More …

Headline

Lobstermen trapped in gear debate

Portsmouth Herald News

To protect right whales, the government has passed a rule about the gear fishermen are allowed to use. The Maine Lobstermen’s Association is going to …

The battle to protect right whales continues

The battle continues as scientists and legislators continue to try to bring rules to bear that will protect the endangered Atlantic right whale. So far, industry has been fighting these efforts. The lobster fishing industry will need to absorb the increased cost for changes to suitable gear and time is money for coastal shipping. With a push to redevelop north-south Atlantica marine and land trade routes and increased traffic from coastal developments along the eastern seaboard, it is clear that ship strikes will rise. Consequently, the proposed change represent the only solution in my view. I think that we should get on with it. Can we adjust to insure a future for these endangered animals? What’s your opinion?

Headline
New Legislation Requires Bush Administration to Stop Procrastinating and Protect Endangered Whales

WASHINGTON, Feb 20, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ — Senator John Kerry today introduced legislation that would help protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales from injury and death due to ship strikes. The Ship Strike Reduction Act of 2008 would require the Bush Administration to finalize a rule establishing speed limits for specified vessels in migratory paths of North Atlantic right whales. More …

Headline

Lobstermen trapped in gear debate

Portsmouth Herald News

To protect right whales, the government has passed a rule about the gear fishermen are allowed to use. The Maine Lobstermen’s Association is going to …

Two Rights Entangled in Fishing Gear

February 5, 2008

Infant deaths, ship strikes and entanglements continue to bedevil the small herd of endangered Northern Right Whales that move seasonally between Florida and the Bay of Fundy.

Boston-based New England Aquarium researchers have discovered 2 Atlantic Right Whales with fishing gear in their mouths. This photo shows “Ruffian”, one of the entangled whales. Check the news sidebar in this blog for ongoing reports on this sadly common drama.

Researchers Amy Knowlton and Clay George have long been pushing for changes in the fishing industry that would decrease the risk of whale entanglement. Both are quick to note that the industry is resistant to change and progress has been slow. “We are hoping to keep working with the industry to develop alternative marine gear that is less likely to harm whales but will still benefit fishers,” Knowlton said. “It’s hard work. But we are trying to find a solution that is win-win.” (Anna Furgeson, the Brunswick News)

Update on Right Whales in Canadian Waters

This is the latest sighting information. Numbers indicate the numbers of Right Whales reported.