Ask a CORE Scientist a marine or research related question

Did you ever offer a program to adopt humpback whales? I adopted a whale, Istar when I was two or three years old and would like to know what ever happened to her. - Lauren

CORE offers an adoption program for four whales, Badge, Owl, Sockeye and Shark. If you'd like to learn more, please visit the CORE website at www.coreresearch.org and you will find a link to the Whale Adoption Program on the left side of the homepage. Or you can get info right at the ticket counter when you come on a whale watch.

The Yankee Fleet supports the Whale Adoption Program for the Center for Oceanic Research and Education. CORE offers an adoption program for four whales, Badge, Owl, Sockeye and Shark. If you'd like to learn more, please visit the CORE website at www.coreresearch.org and you will find a link to the Whale Adoption Program on the left side of the homepage. Or you can get info right at the ticket counter when you come on a whale watch.

Istar is still around! She has the distinction of being the female humpback with the most calves - AND she is a grandmother several times over! Istar has been sighted this year by scientists from the Center for Coastal Studies out of Provincetown, MA and is doing just fine!

Below is an outline of Istar's life and thank you for your question!
Lisa Fox
Director, Center for Oceanic Research and Education Manager,
Yankee Whale Watch Programs

Mother: Unknown

First Sighting: 1976

Year Of Birth: Unknown

Last Seen: 2006

Istar's Family Tree Calves Year of Birth Grandcalves

Cloud 1977 Scylla is the mother of eight calves
Littlespot 1979 TatterScylla 1981 Bola
Tigris 1984 Impala
Eradanus 1986 "64
Unnamed 1988 Glostick
Unnamed 1989 Messina
Unnamed 1991 Pixar
Dextra 1995 Darjeeling
Unnamed 2000
Unnamed 2004

How many types of whales are left in the world. - Joe, Maryborough, Australia

According to a couple of sources, including the online educational forum, WhaleNet, there are 78 species of whales, dolphins and porpoises. Whales, dolphins and porpoises are all very closely related and, as a group, are called cetaceans.

For a list of each species, you can visit WhaleNet.

This page gives the Genus and Species name for each known animal

Thank you for your question!
Lisa Fox
Director,Center for Oceanic Research and Education
Yankee Whale Watch Educational Programming

If the ocean is salt water and whales can't drink the water than how do they drink and hydrate? Anonymous

That's an excellent question! Whales actually get all the hydration they need from the food they eat! There is enough fresh water in the cells of the small fish for the whales to thrive. Most of the whales in the North Atlantic eat small fish such as small herring, small mackerel called "tinker" mackerel and other less known fish like sand eels a.k.a. sand lance.

Humpback whales travel to areas of the Caribbean for the winter and actually do not eat at all while they are there for 4-6 months. During that fasting period, the whales get all their fresh water from the stored blubber that they metabolize! Pretty amazing animals!

Thank you for your question!

Lisa Fox
Director, Center for Oceanic Research and Education
Yankee Whale Watch Educational Programming

Many years ago, I remember seeing the whale Salt on almost every trip. Can you update me on the history of this whale (lifespan, etc.)? Is she still with us?

Thank you for your question! Salt happens to be one of my very favorite whales! Salt is still thriving in our waters off Gloucester! She has been observed several times this year with her 10th calf, named "Soya." It became tradition to name all of Salt's calves something related to spices (a sort of family line thing) - so her calves have been named such names as Crystal, Paprika and Wasabi!

Salt was the first ever humpback whale to be documented off the coast of New England by researchers in 1975. She was also the first humpback to receive a name - after a large white patch of pigmentation on her dorsal fin. She has also been seen every single year since 1975, so she is minimally 31 years old and more likely in her 40s.

We do not yet know how long a humpback whale's life span is - it is assumed to be somewhere between 60-70 years, but we will just have to wait and see!

Thanks again,
Lisa Fox
Director, Center for Oceanic Research and Education
Manager, Yankee Whale Watch Programming

How far do the boats stay away from whales? Do they turn off the engines when observing them? Is there more than one boat in a specific location at the same time? Laure, Amherst MA

We are considering joining a whale watching tour soon, and we are trying to choose a company that organizes whale watching with the animals' well-being as a main preoccupation.

Thank you for your concerns. The Yankee Fleet follows Federal whale-watching
guidelines wherein only one vessel is allowed within a 100 foot radius of a whale or group of whales. Furthermore, that vessel may only be near that whale or group of whales for 15 minutes. Other vessels may be in the vicinity, but must remain at least 300 feet from that same whale or group of whales. Here is a handy graphic from the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary website (we operate our whale watches primarily within the Stellwagen Sanctary boundaries) that you may find useful.

As part of these guidelines, it is not necessary or required to turn off your engines around the whales. If the whales are very close to the boat, the engines are idle - which means the propeller is not spinning - and it is very safe for the whales.

I hope you enjoy your whale watch!

Thank you,
Lisa Fox
Director, Center for Oceanic Research and Education
Manager, Whale Watch Programming, Yankee Fleet

What steps are being done to monitor chlorine contamination and other pollutants? What benchmarks are being used? - Tom, Burlington, Mass.

As you are probably aware, there is an extensive monitoring program for the MWRA outfall in Mass Bay -- I think it's the largest in the country.

They do monthly sampling to see if they exceed any of the caution or warning levels in the Outfall Monitoring Contingency Plan. If they do, then the Outfall Monitoring Task Force (an independent group of scientists) is convened to decide how to deal with the problem.

In the 2004 Outfall Monitoring overview report: you can see that there are two checks on chlorine levels - one for daily levels of chlorine residual and one for monthly levels. Since the outfall came on line in 2000, there has never been a monthly exceedance, and there was only one daily exceedance in 2000, and nothing since then.

Here is a wealth of information at:

Mass Water Resource Authority
Boston Harbor
Mass Bay
Links to technical reports
Questions should be directed to one someone on this contact list

Good Luck,
Rich
--
Richard P. Signell
U.S. Geological Survey
384 Woods Hole Road
Woods Hole, MA 02543-1598

Are there studies being done to study that monitor, and assess, the impact of chlorine and other sewage by-products on whales and other marine life? - Tom, Burlington, Mass

Recently, there was a large scale treatment plant built outside Boston Massachusetts that would appear to be concentrating large volumes of outflow into the habitat of many near-shore species, such as the Humpback Whale. I would think with the increasing populations along shoreside communities, this must be having influences on everything from herring to whales. What do other major shoreside cities do to its sewage, compared to landlocked major cities?

Tom,

I am not aware of what other major shoreside cities do vs. landlocked. In Boston, 43 communities share the same Deer Island Plant - which is right in Boston Harbor. Advanced Secondary treatment is the level at which the waste waters are treated at Deer Island. This link holds a lot of good information:

Chlorine impact is obviously a concern, and it looks like the U.S. Geological Survey are one of the groups who are monitoring it, with the MWRA. A quick search in Google using "sewage treatment boston" resulted in a lot of information about the projections for impacts on the surrounding waters from the sewage outfall.

I also found a community contact person at the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority that may be able to address your concerns - Gary Webster at (617) 788-1170. They are the Boston based organization that specifically oversees the treatment of the sewage as well as the drinking water for Boston and over 40 other nearby communities.

Hope this was helpful.
Sincerely,

Lisa Fox
Director, Center for Oceanic Research and Education
Manager, Yankee Whale Watch Programming

What is the definition of a pelagic species? - Patsy, Stirling, Scotland

What is the definition of a pelagic species? I am trying to find out background info of El nino events and their impact on fish, any suggestions of sites of books? thank you.

Hi Patsy:

Good question! Pelagic is a reference to animals that make their living in or on the open ocean - as opposed to near shore...The Encarta Dictionary definition is as follows:
"living, occurring, or deposited in the deep waters of the ocean or the open sea as opposed to near the shore."

There are many, many animals considered to be pelagic. Many migratory birds, and even fish. When we refer to pelagic fish - they are not near shore - they generally make their living (i.e. feed and swim) throughout the mid-water column (not at the bottom or surface).

As far as your El Nino question and the impact of fish - I really don't know where to send you...My best bet is for you to ask an open question on the Marmam listserv. The address you would write to is:

marmam@lists.uvic.ca

This list is monitored by students and marine scientists world-wide.

Good luck and thank you for your question!

Lisa Fox
Director, Center for Oceanic Research and Education
Manager, Whale Watch Program, Yankee Fleet

How do Humpback Whales grow and develop? - Helen

I'm assuming you're asking about the gestation (pregnancy) of a humpback whale calf. The calf develops and grows much the same as a human baby, since both whales and humans are mammals. The calf is born in the warmer waters near the equator - the whales migrate there each winter to give birth. Since the calves are born without a protective blubber layer, they actually require the warmer water to survive their first few months. The females are pregnant for about 11 months.

After they are born, the mother nurses the calf for the first year of its life. The mother's milk is very rich in nutrients and fat - the calf can gain up to 100 pounds of weight per day! After the calf gets strong enough, the mother and calf will migrate to the northern feeding grounds where the mother was brought HER first year of life! Humpbacks have what is called a matrilineal society - which means that where ever the mother was raised, that's where she will bring her calves. When the calf grows up and has babies of its own, it, too, will migrate with its babies to the same place each summer. This continues for every successive generation.

The calf will stay with its mother the entire first year as it gets larger and stronger. At around 6 or 7 months they also start to eat fish (they mostly play in the fish schools for the first several tries!), while the mother also continues to nurse the calf.

At about 1 year of age, the calf will permanently separate from its mother. There are rare cases that the calf stays a second year with its mother, but that is very unusual. The mother is the only caretaker of the calf - the father's only duty is to impregnate the mother.

The females can start bearing calves as young as 5 years old usually have calves about once every two to three years. No one knows when they stop bearing young - we will probably learn that in the next 10 or 20 years.

Thanks for your question!

Sincerely,
Lisa Fox
Director, Center for Oceanic Research and Education
Manager, Whale Watch Department at Yankee Fleet

I am trying to find information on a salt water fish. My co-worker told me the name is Yahoo of the mackerel - Melissa

Dear Melissa,

The fish to which you are referring are called "Wahoo!" Very close to what your friend told you!

There is a lot of information available about Wahoo. I found this link using the search engine Google.com:
Learn about Wahoo

Good luck!

Thank you for your inquiry!

Lisa Fox
Director, Center for Oceanic Research and Education
Manager, Yankee Whale Watch

Can you give me information about history of whaling in Cape Cod?
- David, Bristol, CT

Dear David,

There is a wealth of information about the whaling history of Cape Cod available in books and online. There were a variety of important whaling ports - from New Bedford to Nantucket to Martha's Vineyard - each with their own history.

I'm afraid I'm anything but a historian, so I'm going to direct you to a particular web page that I found interesting - from the website of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary (off the coast of Massachusetts). It's a pretty specific account of the near-shore whale industry during the early colonial period.

Hope this helps!

Lisa Fox
Director, Center for Oceanic Research and Education
Chief Naturalist, Yankee Whale Watch

What things threatened the lives of whales in the 16th-18th centuries? - Caylah, Centreville, VA

What things have threatened whales in the 19th century that have been man created, and what things have killed them that hasn't been done by humans? What things have been done to prevent the things that harm and kill whales? Also, do you have any project ideas about whales that a student at a middle school level could perform?.

Dear Caylah,
There are a wide variety of whales and different threats that have existed, so I'll answer this in a broad sense. Certainly in the 16th-18th centuries, whaling was the #1 threat to whales. In the 19th century, people still hunted whales, some to near extinction (ex. the Northern Right Whale), and they continued to hunt them into the 20th century. Some whales are still targets to this very day (Minke Whales and California Gray Whales, namely).

Today, pollution, ship strikes, entanglements and over-fishing have created a myriad of problems for the whales - from unintentional killing of whales, to disruption of the food chain in the ocean. Legislation, education and stewardship are probably our best tools to un-do some of these threats to whales. Primarily the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act work hand-in-hand to protect the whales (and other animals) that inhabit the waters off the U.S. Internationally, the International Whaling Commission oversees the whale stocks of the entire world and sets forth restrictions on hunting them.

There are so many interesting subjects when it comes to whales - perhaps the middle school student that you speak about might see what is available and choose a subject that interests him/her the most! The educational website called WhaleNet would probably be the best place to start.

Good luck!

Lisa Fox
Director, Center for Oceanic Research and Education
Chief Naturalist, Yankee Whale Watch

Weston 5th grade class asks a question about how whales might navigate by biomagnetism. Is there evidence of this? Do you think that they might?

Whales navigate through the ocean using a variety of built-in tools. First, they use echolocation to "see" objects, and even perhaps the contours of the ocean floor. It was thought for a long time that large whales like the blue whale or humpback whale did not have the ability to echolocate, but it was recently found that they have a rough version of echolocation, not quite as fine-tuned as the dolphins and other toothed whales.

Second, there is evidence that whales also use biomagnetism, much the same as birds. Many animals have a magnetic-detection substance in their bodies called biomagnetite that likely aids them in sensing the earth's natural magnetic fields. It is believed that many marine mammals - including whales - use magnetic fields to guide them during their extensive migrations.

Thank you for your question!

Sincerely,

Lisa Fox
Director, Center for Oceanic Research and Education
Chief Naturalist, Yankee Whale Watch

We plan to visit Nova Scotia, Bay of Fundy, Prince Edward Island area. Can you tell us the month that we would statistically stand the best chance of seeing whales? - Nancy, Georgia

Well, when talking about wild animals there certainly are no guarantees. Each year can be very, very different, so we can only hope that this year is similar to last year. I know the people at Brier Island Whale and Seabird Cruises in Nova Scotia - and they reported very good sightings from about June to the end of September. I suggest you go there for your whale watch. They are very experienced and can provide you with an excellent trip. Of course, if you ever get a chance to come to Gloucester, MA, Yankee Whale Watching offers incredible, educational trips and guaranteed sightings!

Good luck to you!

Sincerely,

Lisa Fox
Director, Center for Oceanic Research and Education
Chief Naturalist, Yankee Whale Watch

I will be teaching a 12 week Marine Biology class for 11th and 12th graders. As a working marine biologist, what are some absolutely essential questions you feel the class should explore? - Ken, Wisconsin

Very interesting question! Marine Biology is such a vast undertaking - it encompasses everything from the most microscopic plant to the macroscopic animals of cetology (the study of whales, dolphins and porpoises). Certainly one of the most important questions to explore is how are the microscopic and macroscopic connected. Learning about the complex food web in the ocean, the links between predator and prey, I believe, is probably the most important lesson we can learn about the ocean's delicate balance and ecology. It drives home the fact that it's not just the "cute" animals that are important to the ocean. Weird looking bottom dwellers, sharks and slimy squid play just as essential roles as sea turtles and dolphins.

Something else, too, that is interesting to explore is that the food chain in the ocean doesn't simply involve the animals that inhabit it. There are many, many bird species that are considered marine species - that are such an important part of the ocean's ecology. And, of course, humans. The impacts of overfishing and the future of our oceans depend on the course of action that humans decide to take, especially in the next 10 years.

There is a wonderful resource that I recommend you use to develop your curriculum. A National Science Foundation funded internet resource called WhaleNet will help you develop these ideas and will undoubtedly help you think of more than I have just mentioned. There are also several curricula available through the WhaleNet website. I hope I have been of some help! Good luck in your endeavors.

Thanks for the question.
Lisa Fox CORE Director
Chief Naturalist, Yankee Whale Watch

Could you help me research info on cod and whales? - Jacob, 14 yrs old

The internet is an incredible resource for finding answers just like the ones you're asking. If you go to a search engine like Yahoo or Google and then type in "cod fish" or "fin whale" or even just "whale" you'll find a wealth of information right at your fingertips.

I suggest you also go to the Center for Oceanic Research and Education website's Education Center section. You'll find information on several different whale and dolphin species there.

To use a search engine, I'll give you a quick example. For instance, I just went to http://www.yahoo.com. In the blank Search bar, I typed: "cod fish" and found this great website: http://www.petesbait.com/species/cod.php. It tells you just about everything about cod you'd ever like to know!

Good luck on your searches and your school project!