Scientists tracked a young #whale's journey before he vanished. What they learned could help save his species.
#Bishop’s story, from birth to presumed death, shows the extreme danger facing right #whales, which could be extinct in 3 decades if they continue to disappear at the present rate. Bishop’s species is not doomed to #extinction …but time is running out.
In most ways #Bishop was a normal #RightWhale. For the first year of his life, his mother nursed & protected him, & he learned to feed by swimming, mouth agape, through patches of plankton floating near the surface.
But on Jan 20, 2015, Bishop became something more: a precious source of data that would help scientists better understand the dangers afflicting his species.
That day, off the coast of New Smyrna Beach, FL, scientists tagged #Bishop w/a satellite transmitter. For the next 50 days, he broadcast his location as he migrated over 1k mi up the #EastCoast. It was one of the longest transmissions of a #NorthAtlantic#RightWhale ever recorded.
…Bishop averaged about 50 mi / day for the rest of his northward journey. By March, he had joined other right #whales to search for food south of Nantucket, MA. On March 11, his tag fell off, ending the transmisison.
So far this year, a dead female turned up off Virginia w/ a dislocated spine, a calf was discovered in Georgia w/head lacerations, & a young female was found — again in Georgia — w/ a fractured skull. All the injuries are consistent with #vessel strikes.
One of the world's rarest species of whale showed up in the harbour today -- a Southern Right Whale (Maybe it's the same one from 2018, maybe this one just heard the songs about it.)
It's mating season, but then, when isn't it, or is that just me? I haven't had a lot of good things to say about Wellietonne of late, but when good things happen, I'm here to say it!
The good thing: upon seeing the whale in the harbour, they cancelled the Matariki fireworks. Well done Welly!