Right Whale Sighting Advisory System (RWSAS)

Northeast Fisheries Science Center (U.S.)

"In 2011, 24 DMAs (including extensions) were triggered by validated reports, of which 10 came from NARWSS. The RWSAS continued collecting sighting reports from sources including aerial surveys, shipboard research surveys, commercial whale watch vessels, and opportunistic sources (Coast Guard, commercial ships, fishing vessels, and the general public). The most common source of reports in 2011 was aerial surveys (393 reports - 50%; see Table 3). Most sightings were in the Northeast (New York through Maine), where the number of reports per month ranged from 7 in July to 187 in April (Figure 2a and Table 3a). Most reports in the Mid-Atlantic (New Jersey through Virginia) were from the Coast Guard (Figure 2b and Table 3b). Most reports in Canadian waters were from shipboard research surveys (Figure 2a and Table 3c). Logging acoustic detections was discontinued in 2009 due to their frequency. Instead, public and shipping interests were provided links to the automated acoustic detection websites maintained by the Bioacoustics Research Program at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology"--Page 1.

Miscellaneous

National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)