Editor’s note: Information in this article was provided by a news release from the New England Aquarium.
BOSTON — Scientists with the New England Aquarium recorded a rare series of sightings of endangered blue whales during two aerial surveys conducted just a day apart in late February.
Researchers with the Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life spotted a blue whale on Feb. 27 while flying over the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. The whale was seen at the base of Lydonia Canyon, according to a New England Aquarium news release.
Only 24 hours later, during another aerial survey, scientists sighted two additional blue whales about 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard while flying over southern New England waters. The sightings occurred more than 170 miles apart and marked the first time the Aquarium has documented a blue whale in its southern New England survey area.
“Seeing blue whales outside of their Canadian feeding grounds is rare in the Atlantic,” Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center associate scientist Katherine McKenna said, “Finding them in two different areas of the ocean just 24 hours apart was a first for us.”
Blue whales are listed as endangered, the Aquarium said, and scientists estimate the western North Atlantic population may include only about 400 to 600 individuals. The animals are most commonly studied in their summer feeding grounds in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Canada; sightings outside that region are uncommon.
Prior to these observations, the Aquarium had documented blue whales in New England waters only twice before: once in the Monument in 2020 and once off the coast of Maine in 2023.
“Encountering blue whales spread out across the waters off southern New England likely means that oceanographic conditions are ripe for them to find food,” Research Scientist Orla O’Brien said.
Blue whales can travel vast distances without being seen by scientists, and each sighting provides important insight into their winter and spring movements, according to O’Brien.
During the Feb. 27 survey of the Monument, the aerial survey team documented over 300 marine animals. Along with the blue whale, scientists spotted three endangered fin whales, three endangered sperm whales, about 50 pilot whales and hundreds of dolphins.
The Monument is the only U.S. marine national monument in the Atlantic Ocean and is home to deep-sea corals, fish species, whales and sea turtles. Researchers from the Aquarium have been documenting marine mammal biodiversity in the area for nearly a decade and also conduct regular aerial surveys over southern New England and the Gulf of Maine.
Anderson Cabot Center Associate Vice President of Ocean Conservation Science Jessica Redfern said that she has been studying blue whales for more than two decades and that sightings in U.S. East Coast waters are always special to her.
“Our aerial survey team has seen them twice in the Monument, emphasizing the incredible diversity supported by the Monument and why it is so important to protect this special place,” Redfern said.
