Loreto and adventures in field research Baja 2003 review and 2004 news We (Christian and RS) arrived on the evening of February 22 to the grinding electronic cacophony and gyrations of the local Mardi Gras festivities. The thumping decibels accompanying the festivities lasted deep into the first 3 nights, yielding restless sleep at best. Luckily for us there was...
We (Christian and RS) arrived on the evening of February 22 to the grinding electronic cacophony and gyrations of the local Mardi Gras festivities. The thumping decibels accompanying the festivities lasted deep into the first 3 nights, yielding restless sleep at best. Luckily for us there was a strong Norte wind each of the first 3 mornings. And so another...
Fred Wenzel and Tim Cole of the National Marine Fisheries Service in Woods Hole , MA, and both ex MICS team members, photographed a single blue whale off Jeffreys Ledge in the Gulf of Maine on November 17, 2004. Fred and Tim certainly know the importance of getting any blue whale they sight photographed and in this instance it paid...
On November 22 a 22m female blue whale floated ashore dead in Moisie Bay near Sep-Iles on the Quebec North Shore. This blue whale known as B285 was first photo-identified by MICS biologists in August of 1994 at the level of Forestville in the St. Lawrence Estuary. In fact this individual seen with some regularity had only been observed in...
By mid-June minke whales were on a full scale foraging assault on capelin and sand lance within the Mingan Islands. In the Mingan region minke whales feed regularly inshore during early summer , but of late this has become even more pronounced with a constant presence in proximity to the Mingan docks. The minkes use the docks as a barrier...
The 2003 field season was notable for the presence of 3 blue whale cow and calf pairs. This was a first; there have never been more than 1 calf confirmed in any of the past 25 field seasons. pictures of Crinkle and her calf by Judy Judd The first calf seen in the St Lawrence was in 1979, when Totch...
In 1981, the Canadian government withdrew from the International Whaling Commission (IWC), and was one of the few countries in the world to not recognize the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) as an endangered species. It is the dedicated work of MICS’s biologists and collaborators since 1979 that has contributed to significantly change things. On May 3, 2002 at a meeting...
Anthropoids, Crustaceans, Malacostraceans and EuphausiidsKrill, that reddish transparent shrimp-like organism; we often speak of, but in reality what is it? In fact, krill is a general term used to describe many species of planktonic crustacean, which includes 85 species of Euphausiids. As an adult euphausiids measure from 1-14 cm (0.5-5.5 inches) depending on the species and with an average weight...
In September of 2003 a team of MICS (Mingan Island Cetacean Study) biologists surveyed the western Gulf of St. Lawrence aboard the 165ft motor sailor Sedna for endangered blue whales. This was a unique opportunity to carry out 2 weeks of in areas where little observation effort had taken place. This first research cruise was a success with approximately 20...
