The Cape Cod Canal reopened Monday to maritime vessels after three North Atlantic right whales, a critically-endangered species, cleared the canal.It was closed to vessels during the weekend, however, environmental police patrolled the length of the canal and were unable to locate the whales. “You could hear like a plume, like water shooting up a little bit. And then you could just kind of see the animal,” witness Nicole Corbett said.A Coast Guard spokesperson said three right whales traveling through the Massachusetts canal are a rare event.Researchers from the Center for Coastal Studies flew overhead on Sunday and saw one Northern Atlantic right whale at the east entrance to the canal and another at the west entrance. Canal operators immediately closed the canal to shipping traffic, fearing the whales might be hit.”It was interesting, but I was worried for him,” Robert Akin, of the Massachusetts Environmental police, said.Akin spotted one of the whales near Mass Maritime Academy, followed it seven miles almost all the way through the canal then watched it turn around again and head back the other way.”He was almost completely (through the canal). He had maybe a half-mile to go and he was in Cape Cod Bay. And he turned around and went all the way back,” Akin said. Whale expert Charles “Stormy” Mayo of the Center for Coastal Studies said whales have entered the canal before, but he’s never heard of one going the entire length, much less there and back again.”Could well have made a round trip,” Mayo said.He said the whales might have been following fish into the canal, but why they went in will likely remain a mystery.”They honestly travel where they want to go. And if that happens to seem odd to us, it’s the right thing for them,” he said. Nearly 11 months ago, a pod of North Atlantic right whales was spotted north of the canal in Cape Cod Bay.Watch video of that pod spotted near the Cape Cod Canal in April 2022 in the player below.In October 2022, scientists with the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium released a report that stated that the species’ population was more than 480 in 2010, but that number fell by more than 25% over the following decade.The consortium, a group of scientists, government officials, and industry members, said that the North Atlantic right whale population fell to an estimated 340 in 2021.
The Cape Cod Canal reopened Monday to maritime vessels after three North Atlantic right whales, a critically-endangered species, cleared the canal.
It was closed to vessels during the weekend, however, environmental police patrolled the length of the canal and were unable to locate the whales.
“You could hear like a plume, like water shooting up a little bit. And then you could just kind of see the animal,” witness Nicole Corbett said.
A Coast Guard spokesperson said three right whales traveling through the Massachusetts canal are a rare event.
Researchers from the Center for Coastal Studies flew overhead on Sunday and saw one Northern Atlantic right whale at the east entrance to the canal and another at the west entrance. Canal operators immediately closed the canal to shipping traffic, fearing the whales might be hit.
“It was interesting, but I was worried for him,” Robert Akin, of the Massachusetts Environmental police, said.
Akin spotted one of the whales near Mass Maritime Academy, followed it seven miles almost all the way through the canal then watched it turn around again and head back the other way.
“He was almost completely (through the canal). He had maybe a half-mile to go and he was in Cape Cod Bay. And he turned around and went all the way back,” Akin said.
Whale expert Charles “Stormy” Mayo of the Center for Coastal Studies said whales have entered the canal before, but he’s never heard of one going the entire length, much less there and back again.
“Could well have made a round trip,” Mayo said.
He said the whales might have been following fish into the canal, but why they went in will likely remain a mystery.
“They honestly travel where they want to go. And if that happens to seem odd to us, it’s the right thing for them,” he said.
Nearly 11 months ago, a pod of North Atlantic right whales was spotted north of the canal in Cape Cod Bay.
Watch video of that pod spotted near the Cape Cod Canal in April 2022 in the player below.
In October 2022, scientists with the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium released a report that stated that the species’ population was more than 480 in 2010, but that number fell by more than 25% over the following decade.
The consortium, a group of scientists, government officials, and industry members, said that the North Atlantic right whale population fell to an estimated 340 in 2021.
