Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Quick Update: North Atlantic Right Whales

Lest I forget to share this with you, my loves:
On Sunday (as you now know, if you're a regular reader) Rodney and I were at home preparing for some friends and family to welcome home our beloved Katie from Ghana. As we were putting together the kindling in the fire ring, taking the ham out of the oven and kneading biscuits, we got a message from our friend Tyrone: he and Louise had seen two of the highly endangered whales, close off the beach and not far from their house.

When Rodney and I became aware of the whales and their annual presence off our coast as they have their calves in the winter, the population numbers we heard cited regularly were 300-350. Imagine that: less than 350 individuals left alive of an ancient and breathtaking species. But interestingly, the range we hear cited most often now is 350-400. And as small a difference as that seems, when you think of it as a percentage, it's a far more successful number.

Thank you, Louise and Tyrone, for reminding the rest of us that they really are out there.

1 comment:

  1. From a note Louise sent me:
    "At first we saw one whale, which was breaching, then later another one. Apparently it was a mother and her calf, according to a lady I spoke to that lives along the beach. Unfortunately after a boat went past the whales, we did not see them again, they were going south. It was quite a busy day out to sea, lots of dolphins and tons of birds enjoying the day. Never seen whales breach before, it was quite a spectacular view..."

    Isn't that amazing?

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