Found off the coast of New England, gray whales were thought to be extinct 200 years ago
A rare sighting occurred recently off the coast of New England: a grey whale, a species that was proclaimed extinct in the Atlantic over 200 years ago, was observed by the aerial survey crew of the New England Aquarium.
On March 1, while on a routine trip 30 miles south of Nantucket, Aquarium scientists noticed a unique whale demonstrating feeding behavior by repeatedly diving and resurfacing, according to the New England Aquarium aerial survey crew.
The Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life’s associate research scientist, Orla O’Brien, characterized the incident as follows: “I didn’t want to say out loud what it was because it seemed crazy.” For forty-five minutes, the researchers circled the area, taking further pictures that subsequently verified the whale’s identify as a grey whale.
Kate Laemmle, a research technician, expressed her surprise at the encounter by saying, “My brain was trying to process what I was seeing because this animal was something that should not exist in these waters.”
By the eighteenth century, grey whales—which were distinguished by their unique characteristics such a dorsal hump, mottled grey and white skin, and the absence of a dorsal fin—had disappeared from the Atlantic.
Nonetheless, there have been five reports of grey whale sightings in Atlantic and Mediterranean seas in recent years, leading experts to hypothesize that the same whale may have been spotted off the coast of Florida in December 2023.
Scientists blame climate change for these uncommon occurrences, namely the effect of a comparatively ice-free Northwest Passage brought on by rising global temperatures.
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