Not extinct? A grey whale reappears in Atlantic ocean

An aerial survey team from the New England Aquarium made an extraordinary sighting off the coast of New England, USA last week – a grey whale.

Aquarium scientists were flying about 50 kilometres south of Nantucket on 1 March when they spotted an unusual whale. The animal appeared to be feeding and repeatedly dove and resurfaced.

GREY WHALE CONFIRMED

The aerial survey plane stayed in the area for 45 minutes which allowed the observers to take additional photos. Upon reviewing the images, the scientists confirmed their suspicions – it was a grey whale.

“I didn’t want to say out loud what it was, because it seemed crazy,” said Orla O’Brien, associate research scientist in the Anderson Cabot Centre for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium.

O’Brien, who has been doing aerial surveys since 2011, showed the photos to Research Technician Kate Laemmle.

“My brain was trying to process what I was seeing, because this animal was something that should not really exist in these waters,” said Laemmle, who was also on the plane.

“We were laughing because of how wild and exciting this was – to see an animal that disappeared from the Atlantic hundreds of years ago!”

Grey whales are typically found in the North Pacific Ocean and are differentiated from other whale species by their lack of a dorsal fin, their mottled grey and white skin and a dorsal hump followed by pronounced ridges.

While the species vanished from the Atlantic Ocean by the 18th century, there have been five documented sightings of grey whales in Atlantic and Mediterranean waters in the last 15 years.

Aquarium scientists are speculating that the grey whale observed off New England this month may be the same individual that was spotted in Florida late last year.

A RESULT OF CLIMATE CHANGE

Scientists attribute the unusual sightings of grey whales in the Atlantic to climate change. The Northwest Passage, linking the Atlantic and Pacific through the Arctic Ocean in Canada, has become increasingly ice-free in the summer months due to global temperature rises, scientists say.

Traditionally hindered by thick winter ice, grey whales can now potentially traverse the Passage in the summer, a phenomenon that was not possible in the previous century.

“This sighting highlights how important each survey is,” O’Brien added.

“While we expect to see humpback, right, and fin whales, the ocean is a dynamic ecosystem, and you never know what you’ll find.”

“These sightings of grey whales in the Atlantic serve as a reminder of how quickly marine species respond to climate change, given the chance.”

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