Latest news with #GulfOfStLawrence
CBC
15-07-2025
- Science
- CBC
UNB researchers help filmmakers get closeup view of endangered whales
Social Sharing Two University of New Brunswick researchers are preparing for another cruise into the Gulf of St. Lawrence this week to study endangered North Atlantic right whales. And the timing just happens to correspond with the release of an Apple TV+ documentary series featuring six of the world's most endangered animals. Kim Davies, an associate professor in biological sciences, had a hand in the episode on right whales. "This production we did last year was the largest one I've ever been involved with," Davies said. The Wild Ones has episodes dedicated to Malayan tigers, Gobi bears, Javan rhinos, Caucasian leopards, western lowland gorillas, and North Atlantic right whales. The series, from U.K.-based production company Offspring Films, was released on July 11. Davies runs a research program on the right whales that inhabit New Brunswick waters in spring, summer and fall. Currently, only about 350 North Atlantic right whales are left, with even fewer reproducing females, Davies said, and the population is well below the target for recovery. Davies said the team goes out every year to do various research projects, and recently, started using new technology to tag the whales using drones. The drones will fly over a whale and drop the tag, which will suction to the whale, she said. The tags have cameras on them, allowing for underwater footage. The film crew of The Wild Ones attended last summer's cruise, filming from its own boat and then joining the researchers on Davies's boat during the tagging to capture the underwater perspective. "Any underwater footage that you see from the perspective of the whale in the documentary will be our research program's contribution to the work," she said. New docuseries episode assisted by N.B. right whale researchers 34 minutes ago Duration 1:42 Researchers from the University of New Brunswick and Dalhousie University had a hand in a new Apple TV+ documentary series that delves into the world's most dangerous animals. The researchers helped filmmakers get a closeup look at the North Atlantic right whale. UNB, Dalhousie University and Ocean Alliance researchers were in charge of putting the cameras on the whales for the underwater footage. Davies said the Canadian Whale Institute and Fisheries and Oceans Canada also played a role in the production. Jillian Carter, a UNB graduate student, was on board last summer doing her own research on what right whales are eating. "In order to protect the right whales, we need to know where they're going to be and where they usually are is linked to what they're eating in the summertime," Carter said. She said right whales eat small marine crustaceans called copepods, which are smaller than a grain of rice. While Carter wasn't directly involved with the tagging research or filmmaking, she said the experience itself was surreal. "It has been a lifelong dream of mine to work on boats like this, and then to have an Apple TV+ film crew come aboard, it's kind of like, 'Wow. I can't believe this is real life.'" Davies said the underwater footage was helpful for the TV crew, but it's also important to scientists to answer fundamental questions about how the whale behaves and uses its environment. And she said researchers still have questions about how right whales become entangled in fishing gear underwater. While they have yet to observe an underwater entanglement with a tagged whale, she said, if they keep tagging, they might eventually observe it and learn more about how entanglements happen. Although Davies has worked with other film crews in the past on right whale documentaries, having an episode decided to the whale on a streaming service with the international reach of Apple TV+ will likely have a positive effect, she said.
CBC
10-07-2025
- Science
- CBC
RAW VIDEO: The basking shark that Don Gauthier spotted off P.E.I.'s North Shore
People out in a boat off Prince Edward Island's North Shore react to seeing a large basking shark emerging from the cold waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Washington Post
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Canada to take steps to protect vanishing North Atlantic right whales from ships
The Canadian government says it is taking steps this summer to protect a vanishing species of whale from lethal collisions with ships in its waters. The whale is the North Atlantic right whale , which numbers only about 370. The whales give birth off the southeastern U.S. in the winter and spring and migrate north to New England and Canada to feed. Along the way, the whales face dangers including ship strikes and entanglement in commercial fishing gear. Environmental groups have long faulted the U.S. and Canadian governments for not doing enough to protect the critically endangered animals. Canada is enforcing mandatory protection measures for the whale this summer, Transport Canada said in a June 27 statement. All vessels of 42.7 feet (13 meters) in length or more must comply with speed restrictions in designated areas of the ocean to avoid whale strikes, the agency said. Transport Canada said it is also requesting voluntary slowdowns in other parts of the ocean. The restrictions reflect the agency's commitment 'to the protection and conservation of endangered North Atlantic right whales,' the agency said. 'Transport Canada has been taking action to help protect this iconic species from vessel collisions in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, a high-traffic area where right whales are often seen,' the statement said. The restrictions are being enforced at a time when scientists are voicing concern about a lack of right whale reproduction . The New England Aquarium in Boston said earlier this year that this year's calving season produced only 11 mother-calf pairs. U.S. government authorities have said the whales need to have at least 50 calves per season to start recovering the population. The U.S. government decided earlier this year to withdraw a proposal that would have required more ships to slow down in East Coast waters to spare the whale. The move came in the final days of President Joe Biden's administration and federal ocean managers said there was no way to implement the rules before President Donald Trump took office in January. The whale was once abundant off the East Coast, but it was decimated long ago during the commercial whaling era. It has been protected by the U.S. Endangered Species Act for decades, but has been slow to recover.
The Independent
03-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Canada to take steps to protect vanishing North Atlantic right whales from ships
The Canadian government says it is taking steps this summer to protect a vanishing species of whale from lethal collisions with ships in its waters. The whale is the North Atlantic right whale, which numbers only about 370. The whales give birth off the southeastern U.S. in the winter and spring and migrate north to New England and Canada to feed. Along the way, the whales face dangers including ship strikes and entanglement in commercial fishing gear. Environmental groups have long faulted the U.S. and Canadian governments for not doing enough to protect the critically endangered animals. Canada is enforcing mandatory protection measures for the whale this summer, Transport Canada said in a June 27 statement. All vessels of 42.7 feet (13 meters) in length or more must comply with speed restrictions in designated areas of the ocean to avoid whale strikes, the agency said. Transport Canada said it is also requesting voluntary slowdowns in other parts of the ocean. The restrictions reflect the agency's commitment 'to the protection and conservation of endangered North Atlantic right whales,' the agency said. 'Transport Canada has been taking action to help protect this iconic species from vessel collisions in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, a high-traffic area where right whales are often seen,' the statement said. The restrictions are being enforced at a time when scientists are voicing concern about a lack of right whale reproduction. The New England Aquarium in Boston said earlier this year that this year's calving season produced only 11 mother-calf pairs. U.S. government authorities have said the whales need to have at least 50 calves per season to start recovering the population. The U.S. government decided earlier this year to withdraw a proposal that would have required more ships to slow down in East Coast waters to spare the whale. The move came in the final days of President Joe Biden 's administration and federal ocean managers said there was no way to implement the rules before President Donald Trump took office in January. The whale was once abundant off the East Coast, but it was decimated long ago during the commercial whaling era. It has been protected by the U.S. Endangered Species Act for decades, but has been slow to recover.
Associated Press
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Canada to take steps to protect vanishing North Atlantic right whales from ships
The Canadian government says it is taking steps this summer to protect a vanishing species of whale from lethal collisions with ships in its waters. The whale is the North Atlantic right whale, which numbers only about 370. The whales give birth off the southeastern U.S. in the winter and spring and migrate north to New England and Canada to feed. Along the way, the whales face dangers including ship strikes and entanglement in commercial fishing gear. Environmental groups have long faulted the U.S. and Canadian governments for not doing enough to protect the critically endangered animals. Canada is enforcing mandatory protection measures for the whale this summer, Transport Canada said in a June 27 statement. All vessels of 42.7 feet (13 meters) in length or more must comply with speed restrictions in designated areas of the ocean to avoid whale strikes, the agency said. Transport Canada said it is also requesting voluntary slowdowns in other parts of the ocean. The restrictions reflect the agency's commitment 'to the protection and conservation of endangered North Atlantic right whales,' the agency said. 'Transport Canada has been taking action to help protect this iconic species from vessel collisions in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, a high-traffic area where right whales are often seen,' the statement said. The restrictions are being enforced at a time when scientists are voicing concern about a lack of right whale reproduction. The New England Aquarium in Boston said earlier this year that this year's calving season produced only 11 mother-calf pairs. U.S. government authorities have said the whales need to have at least 50 calves per season to start recovering the population. The U.S. government decided earlier this year to withdraw a proposal that would have required more ships to slow down in East Coast waters to spare the whale. The move came in the final days of President Joe Biden's administration and federal ocean managers said there was no way to implement the rules before President Donald Trump took office in January. The whale was once abundant off the East Coast, but it was decimated long ago during the commercial whaling era. It has been protected by the U.S. Endangered Species Act for decades, but has been slow to recover.
