- Whales online is a reference and news site dedicated to education for the conservation of whales of the St. Lawrence and their natural habitat.
- The Whale News Network is a weekly compilation of the "whale-watching" experience in the St. Lawrence Estuary and Gulf. Seasoned observers provide you with their weekly wildlife reports.
- Mingan Island Cetacean Study or MICS is a non-profit research organization dedicated to ecological studies of marine mammals. Founded in 1979 by Richard Sears, MICS was the first organization to carry out extensive long-term research of cetaceans in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
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The Blue Whale
The biggest of the giants. The St. Lawrence is one of the few areas in the world where they can be observed near the coast. Decimated by hunting, it is estimated that there are only a few hundred members of this species in the North Atlantic.
The gigantic size of the blue whale in no way diminishes its aesthetic qualities. This 25-metre, 100 tonne giant glides along with remarkable elegance and gracefulness. When it emerges near the boat, the force of its blow is as startling as its incredible size.
Its gargantuan appetite draws the blue whale to our waters. It is believed that an average-sized individual could gobble up between two and four tonnes of krill per day. Blue whales live dangerously in order to satisfy these enormous requirements. Towards the end of winter, when the Gulf of St. Lawrence is still covered by ice, blue whales are often observed in Cabot Strait near the west coast of Newfoundland. They remain at the edge of the ice floe, as if impatiently waiting for spring break-up and the opening of the Gulf. In reality, large concentrations of plankton at the edge of the ice field is keeping them here. It’s at this time that the ice can shift unexpectedly and trap the whales.
Although the Gulf can become deadly, trapping the bold and the slow-pokes, blue whales seem to extend their stay in the rich waters of the St. Lawrence as long as possible. A single blue whale was sighted in a field of thin ice off the Gaspé Peninsula at the end of March and off Sept-Îles at the beginning of January. Could it be that certain individuals remain captives of the St. Lawrence throughout the winter?
In 1979, Richard Sears and his colleagues at the Mingan Island Cetacean Study (MICS) took on a colossal task: the study of the Northwest Atlantic blue whale population. From the time when these whales were still the targets of harpoons, whalers knew their distribution patterns quite well. Since the end of the hunt in 1955, sightings on traditional hunting grounds from Iceland to Newfoundland have become more and more rare. At the beginning of the 1970s, the population of this part of the Atlantic was estimated at only several hundred individuals. The challenge for MICS was considerable. The Gulf and the Estuary of the St. Lawrence constituted an ideal laboratory to begin their work.
Richard Sears speaks of blues as being whales the colour of the sea. The colours that inspire this researcher also allow him to recognize individual whales. By photographing the speckled flanks of these animals, his team has managed to put together a catalogue of some 300 individuals. This catalogue is our best tool for understanding the biology of the blue whale.
Each new encounter with blue whales provides scientists with additional pieces to the puzzle. Up until now, nearly half of all blue whales identified were seen for more than one season. Among these, 50 are regular visitors. These animals, observed most often alone or in pairs, do not appear to form stable groups. Although certain individuals return to the same areas for several years, the majority of known whales were observed all along the North Shore from Grandes-Bergeronnes to the Strait of Belle Isle where the play of currents and tides favours concentrations of krill. These observations demonstrate the nomadic nature of blue whales. This impressive mobility renders study particularly difficult. What is the range of the whales that we don’t see every year? How important is the St. Lawrence for those who return almost every year? We don’t have answers to these questions, yet.
The method chosen by MICS is starting to show results. Thanks to the co-operation of other researchers, several St. Lawrence blue whales have already been identified elsewhere in the Atlantic. These first sightings, in the Gulf of Maine and near Greenland, are encouraging. We now have to double our efforts and patrol new areas of the Atlantic.
The largest animal ever to have lived on our planet is also one of the least known. In the Atlantic, as in the other oceans, the hunt for blue whales was devastating. The most optimistic estimate of the worldwide population of blue whales is barely more than 10 000, while in one hunting season alone, in the 1930s, more than 30 000 individuals were killed in the Antarctic. The 300 or so known blue whales of the St. Lawrence have already taught us a lot about this species. Long-term research work undertaken in the Gulf and Estuary of the St. Lawrence provides a solid base from which to expand this program to the entire Atlantic Ocean.
(Excerpt from : www.whales-online.net) Also see LINKS page: WHALES
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