Nearly Half the World’s Right Whales are Now in Massachusetts

Two North Atlantic right whales photographed by the NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Center aerial survey team in May 2016. Tim Cole/NOAA Fisheries, NEFSC

Boaters in Massachusetts are being asked to use “extreme caution” because of the large number of endangered North American right whales currently migrating off the state’s coast.

The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries issued the warning on Friday, April 11 after aerial and acoustic surveillance conducted by the Center for Coastal Studies, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and the National Marine Fisheries Service detected high densities of right whales in Cape Cod Bay, as well as sightings in Massachusetts Bay.

A right whale breaches in waters off New England. Photo/NOAA

April is typically the peak of the right whale season off Massachusetts, as the whales take advantage of large plankton patches in Cape Cod Bay as they migrate north.

According to a Connecticut Public Radio report, nearly half of the planet’s North Atlantic right whales are currently swimming in Massachusetts waters.

The recent surveillance identified more than 162 right whales currently off Massachusetts out of a global total of roughly 370.

However, the presence of the whales creates a danger for both the whales and boaters.

Right whales are often difficult to see and are susceptible to boat collisions.

To protect right whales from vessel strikes, the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries established a seasonal speed restriction of 10 knots or less from March 1 to May 15 for vessels less than 65 feet in length. The restriction applies within those waters of Cape Cod Bay south of 42° 08’ north latitude, as well as those waters north of Cape Cod that are west of 70°10’ west longitude. A complementary federal speed limit applies to all vessels 65 feet overall length and greater.

Both state and federal law prohibits approaching a right whale within 500 yards.

Officials may extend or rescind the seasonal small vessel speed limit based on the continued presence or absence of whales.