The Lubec Right Whale Research Field Station

First published in the MLA newsletter, October, 2010.

I visited the Lubec right whale research field station run by the New England Aquarium to meet some of the scientists who spend two months each summer studying right whales in the Bay of Fundy. As MLA’s whale projects coordinator, I spent the winter traveling from harbor to harbor meeting with Maine lobstermen and documenting the fishery. Now it was time to learn more about how right whale research is conducted. My personal goal was to get out on their research vessel to see how they collect photo identification data of the whales.

Located in downtown Lubec, the field house is a beautiful old Victorian house just up the street from the dock. On the Sunday I arrived, I found that the majority of people I had come to meet with had left early that morning to carry out a necropsy on a dead right whale found on the eastern side of the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotian waters. I was assured that at least some of them would be back either that evening or the next day.

After a tour of the sleeping compartments in the main house, kitchen, numerous labs and work stations, I was taken to the annex, a separate building that housed an additional lab area, bathroom and five bedrooms for guests. I could see that most of the house was in need of some care; the rooms all had peeling wallpaper and the furniture was mostly old and worn out. But as I would shortly discover, the house was just a place to work, sleep and eat. The real focus was the work being done at sea in the Bay of Fundy.

Research scientists interested in whales have been coming here each summer since 1980. Dr. Scott Kraus, now vice-president for research at the New England Aquarium, was part of a team doing an environmental impact report that year for a proposed oil refinery in Eastport. Kraus came to the area to do an aerial survey of marine mammals. During the surveys, he and his colleagues found twenty-five adult right whales but even more importantly, four calves. Sightings of right whales had been infrequent for years. The discovery of right whales with their young migrating into the Bay of Fundy provided a researchers access to these rare whales. This sparked the creation of the research project in the Bay of Fundy which now has run for three decades.

During my first dinner in Lubec I got a firsthand account of the status of the dead right whale from a young woman who had just returned from the necropsy. The whale, which may have been dead for ten days, had been towed onto a beach on Digby Neck, Nova Scotia where the necropsy was performed by the New England Aquarium researchers and volunteers under the direction of Dr. Pierre Yves Daoust, a veterinarian from the University of Prince Edward Island. Tissue decomposition and the associated smell were all described to me over dinner. It wasn’t what I typically discuss while trying to eat, but an eye-opening insight into the lives of the researchers.

On the second day, I sat down and talked with Dr. Moira Brown, a senior scientist at the New England Aquarium, who goes by the nickname of Moe. I had learned that with half of the staff out in the field and with very strong southeast winds predicted for the next few days, my likelihood of getting out on the water was slim. So instead of going to sea, we spent part of the day discussing some of the right whale conservation measures that have been implemented in Canadian waters.

Moe has been part of the right whale research team in Lubec for the last 26 years. Her research on right whales in Canadian waters has led to a change in location of shipping lanes beginning in 2003 which has reduced ship strikes. She worked directly with the Canadian federal government, whale biologists, fishermen and shipping companies to guide adoption of amended shipping routes in the Bay of Fundy. Reducing ship strikes has a major impact on the survival of the species since ship strikes often prove fatal for right whales. Her data also led to designation of an area to be avoided by ships on Roseway Basin to reduce the risk of vessel strikes in the two Canadian right whale critical habitats. Unfortunately, after more than five years with no reported right whale ship strikes, this year three right whale mortalities have been recorded.

Moe explained that though right whale research continues along the east coast, analysis of data collected lags about five years behind. Reduction in the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) budget resulted in a reduction of trained staff to help with photo identification. Researchers examine the photographs of each whale over time to assess the extent and severity of scarring from encounters with fishing gear. The photo analysis data are very important for assessing if the sinking groundline that replaced float rope has made a difference in whale entanglements.

Based on the photographic evidence and her personal experiences documenting right whales, Moe believes that the sinking groundlines do reduce the risk of entangling a whale. When I asked how a whale could become entangled in a groundline near the ocean floor, she spoke about documented sightings of whales coming to the surface covered in mud in the Bay of Fundy. Research shows that right whales will rub up against the bottom which could result in entanglement.

When discussing gear regulation in the U.S., Moe noted the importance of collaboration between fishermen and scientists. She said that it is important to have fishermen and biologist involved in creating solutions. She acknowledged that researchers still have a lot to learn about how right whales get entangled but, she argued, some educated guesses can be made. Fishermen know their gear and can help researchers understand more about the problem and what changes might be made to reduce the risk to right whales.

As the end of the second day approached, the second team returned after a grueling day of dissecting the beached whale and a long ferry ride and drive back to Lubec. The team smelled pretty bad so the first order of business was to get washed. All clothes were piled up to either be washed in Borax or disposed of.

When the group gathered together for a dinner of homemade pizza and fruit salad, the conversation revolved around the dead right whale, the use of an excavator to remove layers of blubber and speculation on the cause and time of death. Dinner also gave me a chance to talk with Amy Knowlton, a research scientist at the New England Aquarium.

Amy has been working at the Lubec field station every year since 1983. She has devoted much of her time to gathering photo identification data and working on the individual photographic record for each whale. In addition to her work identifying right whales and matching them to individuals in the New England Aquarium’s huge catalog, Amy examines each photograph to map out changing scar patterns on the whales. Currently 75 percent of right whales have scars associated with rope used in fixed gear fisheries. The scars indicate when and how severely a right whale has been entangled, but just how and why whales get entangled is still unknown.

Amy plans to work directly with New England lobstermen to consider re-engineering ropes that pose less risk to whales and are durable for fishermen. Her hope is that working in collaboration with lobstermen will ultimately result in a better approach to gear modification and reduced risk of entanglement for whales. She said that working in groups which involve biologists, rope manufacturers and fishermen can only lead to a better solution.

As I concluded my time in Lubec, I remained disappointed that I did not get out on the water to see the team in action. I did gain considerable respect for the work accomplished by the scientists, particularly for their open-mindedness concerning not only the plight of the whales but also the plight of people who work on the water.

To learn more about the right whale field station in Lubec, visit: http:rightwhales.neaq.org.