Tag Archives: Center for Coastal Studies
Up to 70 North Atlantic right whales were spotted in Cape Cod Bay
About one-fifth of the world’s entire population of North Atlantic right whales were all spotted hanging out in Cape Cod, Mass., heading into the weekend. Between 60 to 70 right whales, including a mother and calf, were seen feeding outside the east end of the Cape Cod Canal in the Cape Cod Bay on Friday, according to the Massachusetts Environmental Police. The wildlife officials sent out two patrol vessels to protect the whales from boat traffic. By Saturday, the whales had seemingly moved on. >click to read< 11:00
On Demand Gear – Cape Cod Lobstermen Would Rather Wait Than Switch
21-year-old North Atlantic right whale known as Porcia was observed in Cape Cod Bay on March 18. The whale was seen swimming with her 2023 calf by her side. That means Cape Cod lobstermen are on land, waiting out the whales. Elsewhere in Massachusetts waters, however, the NOAA is running an experiment that gives lobster fishermen exempted fishing permits to work in areas that are otherwise restricted. What they are testing is something called on-demand fishing gear. “I think it’s a Star Wars idea that will not work,” said Dana Pazolt, a Truro-based lobsterman who sets his traps on the bay side in the fall and on the ocean side in the spring and summer. Pazolt’s 800 lobster traps have 50 miles of rope. >click to read< 11:10
Mysterious Lobster Deaths In Cape Cod Raise Climate Change Concern
Last month, lobstermen in Cape Cod Bay hauled up something disturbing. In one section of the bay, all of their traps were full of dead lobsters. Research biologists went to work trying to solve the mystery, and what they found suggests we may see more of this as the climate changes. But what was killing everything in the traps? “I don’t think any of us have heard reports of that before, at least not like that, where we had multiple fishermen all calling the same day, saying something’s going on,” said Steve Wilcox, one of the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries’ biologists assigned to the case. >click to read< 19:28
Do as We Say, Not as We Do! – Center for Coastal Studies, 100, well, Maybe 99 endangered right whales feeding off Cape Cod
The Provincetown-based nonprofit group reported Friday that about 100 whales are concentrated near the western shore of Cape Cod Bay and near the entrance to the Cape Cod Canal . The animals are feeding below the surface of the water and aren’t easily visible to boaters. The center advises that the animals are vulnerable to collisions with ships and asks that boaters take precautions. Read more here 09:03
