The New England Aquarium aerial survey team in Boston Massachusetts sighted a gray whale early this month off the New England coast. The gray whale has been extinct in the Atlantic for more than 200 years but revealed itself when a team of aquarium scientists spotted the creature repeatedly diving and resurfacing, appearing to be feeding.
“I didn’t want to say out loud what it was, because it seemed crazy,” Associate Research Scientist in the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium Orla O’Brien said when she and her partner discovered the whale.
Gray whales are most commonly found in the North Pacific Ocean and are easily distinguished from other whale species by their lack of a dorsal fin, mottled gray and white skin, and dorsal hump followed by pronounced ridges.
This species originally disappeared from the Atlantic Ocean by the 18th century, but in the last 15 years, there have been five observations of gray whales in the Mediterranean waters, including off the coast of Florida in December 2023. New England Aquarium scientists believe that the gray whale seen this month is the same one spotted in Florida late last year.
Scientists have pointed to climate change to explain the sightings. The Northwest Passage, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific through the Arctic Ocean in Canada, has seemingly been ice-free in the summertime in recent years due partially to the rising global temperatures. The scope of the sea ice has limited the gray whales from breaking through the thick winter ice that normally inhabits the Passage in years past, but this is no longer the case due to the ice thawing.
“It is interesting to think that climate change/global warming has actually had a [partial] positive change in the world,” NHS freshman Jolene Brackett said.
“They’re going all the way up to the Arctic to feed already, so they’re quite close to these new, ice-free areas that would allow them to pass through,” Joshua Stewart, an assistant professor at Oregon State University’s Marine Mammal Institute, said. He was not involved in the new discovery.
“That's honestly really cool since [gray whales] were thought to be extinct but also pretty sad, as the reason the sightings are becoming more frequent is because of global warming,” NHS senior Ella Morits said.
Researchers believe that gray whales potentially have the ability to travel the Passage in the summer, something that wouldn’t have been possible in the previous century. This explains why gray whale sightings have been more prevalent in areas where they were thought to be extinct.
“I think the migration is very intriguing as they swim many miles to get to their destinations,” NHS junior Brooke Jackson said.
Many deliberate the effect this migration may have on the planet, the gray whale species, and the human race.
“Ice melting will impact the Arctic food chain that the whales depend on, and the additional freshwater could mess up the global ocean circulation patterns. This could have huge impacts on weather, temperature, and food supply,” Regina Guazzo, a researcher with the Whale Acoustic Reconnaissance Project at the Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific in San Diego, said.