Summer
1995
Sanctuary
and Coast Guard Team to Protect the Environment
Tidings
Sanctuary Currents
Education Digest
Research Reports
Left Turn or Right?
Sanctuary
and Coast Guard Team to Protect the Environment
How can
you protect 638 square nautical miles of open water and the valuable
marine resources they cover and hold? For a newly established Sanctuary
with a minuscule staff and a large mandate, the answer was to find some
like-minded partners. Relief came in the form of the United States Coast
Guard.
Eyes
in the Sky and on the Water
On January 5, the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary and U.S.
Coast Guard officially agreed to increase enforcement to protect endangered
species and to uphold a set of Sanctuary regulations established when
the Sanctuary was created in 1992. Numbering only three, the Sanctuary
staff is hard pressed to make regular trips to the offshore waters and
monitor activities there. That's where the Coast Guard fits in.
With its
regular presence in the skies over the Sanctuary and in the waters from
Cape Cod to Cape Ann, the Coast Guard provides added observers needed
for this marine site at the mouth of Massachusetts Bay. Under the agreement,
the Coast Guard now schedules one to two special overflights each week
dedicated to Sanctuary concerns and adds routine surveillance of the
Sanctuary to all other ship and air patrols. Coast Guard patrol boats
may also stop and board vessels caught fishing or dumping illegally
or threatening endangered species.
Partners
in Education
Although the Coast Guard's expertise and capabilities in enforcement
are invaluable to the Sanctuary, other aspects of Coast Guard operations
have also provided much needed assistance to the Sanctuary. Regular
crews as well as the Coast Guard Auxiliary are distributing information
to boaters about the Sanctuary along with important boating safety information
for these waters, particularly guidelines for whalewatching. When endangered
whales are spotted, the Coast Guard broadcasts radio warnings, and has
provided support for operations to disentangle whales found caught in
marine debris.
The public
information specialists of both organizations have worked together to
develop a public service ad for television with the Boston University
Ad Laboratory about endangered right whales in the Sanctuary, and to
co-host several press conferences about joint operations. Sanctuary
staff members have, in turn, traveled to Coast Guard facilities to train
boarding officers and others on aspects of the national sanctuary program
and environmental topics related to Coast Guard operations. Another
partner in the formal agreement between the agencies is the National
Marine Fisheries Service which is training Coast Guard crews in enforcement
requirements pertaining to the Endangered Species and Marine Mammal
Protection Acts.
Research
Too
In an effort to better understand who uses the area, the Sanctuary has
contracted for a user study (see related article on page 2) for which
the Coast Guard has supplied videotaped overflights. Research requests
for ship support have also been provided on an as needed basis, and
when regular Coast Guard operations allow. Boater safety and the air/sea
rescue capability of the Coast Guard are never compromised during these
Sanctuary-related projects. The installation of a radar system (once
used in the war against drug traffickers in Florida) at the Coast Guard's
regional communications center in Marshfield will give the Coast Guard
and Sanctuary a complete overview of the number of vessels in the Sanctuary
at any time, thereby simplifying data collection for the user survey.
Coast Guard facilities have also served as bases of operation for Sanctuary-related
research cruises and meetings.
"We couldn't
have found a more efficient and accommodating partner," notes Sanctuary
manager Brad Barr. "Our efforts in interagency cooperation break new
ground and demonstrate how organizations can work together for the common
good. Not only is this economically advantageous, but it allows each
organization to specialize in the areas of its own expertise," he said.
"We look forward to continuing this cooperative relationship and building
upon it in the future."
Tidings
Welcome
to the first issue of Stellwagen Soundings, a new publication of the
Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. The Sanctuary, the first
of its kind in the Northeast, and one of only 12 sites nationwide, encompasses
842-square miles (638 square nautical miles). Within these waters can
be found an important and intricate marine ecosystem that includes four
species of endangered whales as seasonal visitors, important commerical
fish stocks, and a host of interesting creatures, both large and small.
Sanctuary History
The history
of the Sanctuary began in August 1982 when a group of concerned citizens
put the finishing touches on a proposal to designate the area around
Stellwagen Bank as a National Marine Sanctuary. The National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration had invited the public to nominate sites
for addition to the national system and representatives from the Center
for Coastal Studies and Defenders of Wildlife answered the call. In
1983, the site was added to the list of nominations that met basic criteria,
sebsequently becoming an active candidate in 1989. Three years later,
in 1992, Congress officially designated Stellwagen Bank as a National
Marine Sanctuary.
But in
some respects, the history of the Sanctuary began at the end of the
last ice age, as the retreating glacier left behind deposits that became
the Bank. This area -- located at the mouth of Massachusetts Bay in
the southwestern corner of the Gulf of Maine -- has, for eons, been
a productive area, filled with a rich treasury of marine life. Those
who fish for a livelihood have long recognized the area for its abundant
fish and invertebrates (such as lobsters, scallops, and squid). Even
before humans cast there nets and lines into the waters, whales, seals,
sea birds and other creatures sought out the bounty of the Stellwagen
Bank area.
For those
of you visiting the Sanctuary for the first time, enjoy your excursion.
For those of you who have never been out to this portion of the Gulf
of Maine, we encourage you to learn more about this fascinating place
and hope you will one day have the opportunity to explore it yourself.
Top
Sanctuary
Currents
What
to do when Oil Spills and Whale Spouts Meet
The National
Marine Fisheries Service and NOAA's HAZMAT (Hazardous Materials Response
and Assessment Division) sponsored a one-day workshop at the Stellwagen
Bank National Marine Sanctuary in May that looked at the ramifications
of an oil spill in a whale habitat. When corraling the oil is impossible,
what can be done? Do cleanup personnel disperse the oil with detergents?
Do they burn it? Do whales understand the sound of a fire and avoid
it -- this being an unknown phenomenon in the wild? Can whales be chased
away from the site of a spill by the sound of orcas (killer whales)
-- the only commonly observed predator of great whales (albeit juvenile
whales for the most part). Representatives from the U.S. Coast Guard,
whale research institutions such as the New England Aquarium, and others
discussed the possible scenarios, possible solutions, and trade-offs
involved in each method. Over the next few months, the National Marine
Fisheries Service will develop official policies for all contingencies
based on these inputs and other suggestions gathered at similar fact-finding
sessions.
Sibling
Sanctuaries Cooperate to Protect Humpback Whales
Where
do the humpback whales go in the fall? Like many human residents of
New England, they go south to the Caribbean. The whales of Stellwagen
Bank join their breathren from elsewhere in the Gulf of Maine, Gulf
of Labrador, Newfoundland, Greenland, and Iceland, and travel to the
warm, sheltered waters of Silver Bank and Navidad Bank off the Dominican
Republic. This important breeding and calving area for humpback whales
has been designated a National Sanctuary by the Dominican government,
which unfortunately has only limited resources available at this time
to devote to this conservation effort. In order to help protect the
species at both ends of its migration corridor, Brad Barr, manager of
the Stellwagen Bank Sanctuary serves on the Silver Bank advisory board.
The Stellwagen Bank Sanctuary will also help develop educational materials
that both sanctuaries can use. An additional link between the sanctuaries
will be an hour-long television program on humpbacks, produced by a
crew from the Venezuelan television series "Expedicion" (the show has
an international distribution and is scheduled to be shown on the Discovery
Channel). The filmmakers plan to film at Stellwagen this summer; Silver
Bank filming was completed last winter.
All
Tied Up and No Place to Go -- Disentangling Whales
When a
whale gets caught up in nets, who do you call? The answer's not so simple.
Until now, reports have been going to local police and fire rescue departments,
the U.S. Coast Guard, local aquariums, local wildlife refuges, and whale
research institutions. The Stellwagen Bank Sanctuary is working with
other organizations in the region to develop a disentanglement network
in the Gulf of Maine; other participants include the National Marine
Fisheries Service, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the Center for Coastal
Studies. Such a network might include an emergency response team that
could be flown immediately to entanglement sites and an 800 emergency
call-in number for entanglement sightings.
Kiosk
Goes Up in Provincetown
A new
exhibit showing the wide range of species at the Stellwagen Bank National
Marine Sanctuary and the marine food web will have a summer installation
in Provincetown at the State Pier. The free-standing kiosk was produced
for the Sanctuary by the Center for Coastal Studies. Copies of the graphics
panels are also going up in the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History in
Brewster and at the Sanctuary's headquarters in Plymouth.
Sanctuary
Considers Experimental Closure Area
Fisheries
management decisions have been made over the past decades without a
complete understanding of what happens to the seabed when fishing gear
sweeps across it. The effects of gear on the benthic (sea bottom) community
of living resources is little understood, as are the similarities or
differences of natural phenomena, such as storms. A team of researchers
has proposed a five-year research program that would call for the closure
of a small section of the sanctuary, to compare the effects of fishing
(primarily dragging and trawling) in an area of diverse habitats just
outside the closure area to a geologically similar area where fishing
is not permitted. After a series of public meetings , it was clear that
a closure of part of the Stellwagen Bank Sanctuary, in addition to existing
closures on Georges Bank and southern New England, would be unacceptable
to many of the meeting attendees. Based on comments received, the science
team has decided to delay any further discussion of the experimental
closure until the New England Fisheries Management Council proposes
its overall plan for groundfish management. Once that decision has been
made, and if the science team decides to proceed, there will be a second
series of public information meetings, and, perhaps, a formal request
to the Fisheries Management Council regarding action in the experimental
area.
Sanctuary
Field Guide Published
A 240-page,
full-color field guide to the whales, birds, fish and other marine life
of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary has just been published.
Filled with stunning photographs and artwork, the book delights the
reader with the rich treasury of the Sanctuary's resources. Sections
of the book, written by Nathalie Ward of the Center for Coastal Studies
and printed by Down East Books, cover whales and whaling, fish and fishermen,
sea birds, and the food web. The first edition retails for $14.95; copies
of subsequent print runs will go for $16.95 each. The book is available
at many of the stores affiliated with whalewatch operations, the Center
for Coastal Studies shop in Provincetown, and other bookstores.
Whalewatching
Grows Around the World
According
to a new report from the Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society (Bath,
United Kingdom), 50 independent countries and 15 overseas territories
or dependencies, including Antarctica, have at least some level of commercial
whale watching. The United States leads the field with 3,600,000 whale
watchers recorded in 1994, up from 3,243,025 in 1991. Based on these
numbers and local estimates, the Stellwagen Bank/Jeffreys Ledge area
probably attracts about 11% of the total U.S. whalewatching public.
Worldwide, the number of whale watchers stands at 5,425,506. Erich Hoyt,
the report's author, notes that several communities have been transformed
by whale watching with substantial economic, educational, and/or scientific
impacts, including: Provincetown, Mass., U.S.A.; Friday Harbor, Washington,
U.S.A.; Lahaina, Hawaii, U.S.A.; Ogata, Japan; Andenes, Norway; and
Dingle, Ireland. Although whale watching seems to be leveling off in
the United States, Hoyt reports that the five highest rates of increase
between 1991 and 1994 were: Brazil, Spain, Japan, Argentina, and New
Zealand.
Education
Digest
MIMIFest
Comes to Plymouth
For anyone
who has used the curriculum or has seen the series of videos on public
television, the Voyage of the MIMI is a memorable experience. In May,
the Sanctuary sponsored the first annual MIMIFest in Plymouth -- bringing
the MIMI -- an actual 72-foot sailing ketch -- to the State Pier while
hosting four days of activities. Over 1,400 students got to tour the
ship, meet Peter Marston (aka Captain Granville), take a harbor cruise,
and participate in marine studies workshops. Scrimshaw, knot-tying and
net-mending (and its relationship to fisheries issues), a planetarium
show on celestial navigation, identification of the whales of Stellwagen
Bank, and weather forecasting rounded out the program. A teacher's conference
led off the week's activities on May 22. The Sanctuary intends to host
an expanded MIMIFest next year.
Northward
Ho! or Following the Great Whales on the Internet
From Groundhog's
Day through June 1, the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary served
as one of the contact points for an innovative education program that
followed the northward advance of spring and migrations of various species.
The Journey North program, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, looked at
leaf-out (the first buds of spring) and ice-out (the last signs of ice
on once-frozen lakes) as well as the spring migrations of monarch butterflies,
northern orioles, american robins, common loons, caribou, peregrine
falcons, bald eagles, leatherback turtles, humpback whales and northern
right whales. For some of these species, students e-mailed in sighting
reports; for other species, not as easily located, experts provided
the tracking reports. The Sanctuary prepared a weekly log on whale sightings
along the east coast from a network of whale researchers, whale watch
operators, and government agency whale specialists from as far south
as the Dominican Republic to as far north as Newfoundland. The Sanctuary
also provided background information on whale biology and behavior,
as well as whale information from other Sanctuaries in the national
system. The Sanctuary is planning to continue participating in the Journey
North program next spring. For more information, contact the Sanctuary
or the Journey North program at 125 North First Street, Minneapolis,
MN 55401; (612) 339-6959; e-mail jnorth@jriver.com.
Student-Produced
Video Highlights Sanctuary
A graduate
student from Emerson College has prepared an outstanding 20-minute video
about the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary as her master's
thesis project. Amy Young, majoring in television production, co-wrote,
co-produced, and directed the show which details the geological history
of the Bank, the Sanctuary designation process , and the on-going work
of the Sanctuary staff and associated researchers. Creative Resources
Group of Plymouth donated narration, music and audio services; while
videotape footage was donated by Robert Brown of Passage Productions,
Inc., National Undersea Research Center at Avery Point, Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution, and Associated Scientists of Woods Hole. Plans call for
distributing the videotape to libraries, schools, exhibit centers, and
other education outlets.
Stellwagen
and the Aquanauts
GOING
DOWN! They are diving in submersibles to the Bank, studying its wealth
of resources with remotely-operated vehicles, and listening to its sounds
with sonar equipment. No these aren't research scientists from marine
research institutions -- these are high school students from Massachusetts,
Rhode Island, and Connecticut who are participating in the Aquanaut
program of the National Undersea Research Center at the University of
Connecticut, Avery Point. The students will travel to Stellwagen Bank
to pursue studies in benthic (sea bottom) biology, ocean acoustics --
impacts of low frequency noise on whales -- and other topics. After
completing the data gathering cruises, the students will analyze their
information and write research papers which they will present in the
fall. For more information on this project, contact the Sanctuary or
the National Undersea Research Center at (203) 445-3483.
Massachusetts-Georgia
Link for Education
What do
Massachusetts and Georgia have in common? They both have named the northern
right whale as their state marine mammal. They both also have National
Marine Sanctuaries offshore -- Gray's Reef off Savannah and Stellwagen
Bank at the mouth of Massachusetts Bay. The two Sanctuaries are collaborating
on a right whale education package that will include an oversize poster
and workbook that details the history of the whale and whaling, anatomy
and physiology, behavior and migration, and conservation efforts. In
addition, the Sanctuaries are jointly funding the production of a 20-minute
video by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources which will include
amazing film footage of right whale mating behavior in the Bay of Fundy,
the right whales summer feeding and breeding ground. Right whales spend
the spring in Cape Cod Bay and sections of Stellwagen Bank and pregnant
females travel to the shallow waters off the Georgia and northern Florida
coast for calving. For more information on the educators package, contact
the Sanctuaries this fall.
Top
Research
Reports
Who's
Who and What's What Among Sanctuary Invertebrates?
In an
effort to better understand what types of prey groundfish are seeking,
and to understand the effects of trawling on these animals, Dr. Les
Watling and a team from the University of Maine will study the marine
life of the Sanctuary's seafloor this summer. Based on images from remotely
operated vehicles and side-scan sonar, the research team has selected
five different habitat types for study. Using an apparatus called the
Smith-McIntyre grab sampler, the researchers will identify and count
the invertebrates (animals without backbones such as worms, clams, sand
dollars, etc.) found in the sand, mud, or gravel. At least five "grabs"
will be done for each site. This small project will form the basis of
a larger and longer-term (3-year) project already funded by Maine Sea
Grant which is scheduled to start in February 1996. That study is designed
to assess the effects of trawling on bottom communities and to investigate
patterns of benthic (seafloor) habitat recovery following the end of
trawling.
Tiny
Creatures with Big Roles
For the
great circle of life in the Sanctuary, the little creatures on the sea
floor and in the water column play important roles. A researcher from
the University of North Carolina at Wilmington is looking at links between
benthic microalgae (small single-celled plants living on the seafloor)
and dermersal zooplankton (free-floating animals, such as shrimp-like
copepods and krill). These organisms are an important part of the marine
food chain -- zooplankton eat the algae, and fish, birds, and whales
eat the zooplankton. Dr. Lawrence Cahoon and his team want to determine
if there are differences in the types and amounts of algae and zooplankton
in dragged versus protected areas. Studies during the summer of 1995
will include placement of demersal zooplankton traps and a benthic microalgal
lander (for measuring oxygen exchange -- a good indicator or the amount
of photosynthetic material). If available, a remotely-operated vehicle
will also be used for sampling.
Understanding
Fish Habitats
What roles
do different types of sea floors have on the numbers and types of fish
that live there? A research program proposed by the National Undersea
Research Center at the University of Connecticut, Avery Point will begin
to clarify those roles. Some examples of habitat features associated
with mobile fauna (such as fish, crustacea, and bivalves) include: skates,
crabs and hermit crabs with coarse sand deposits on top of the Bank;
snake blenny , alligatorfish, sculpin, and ocean pout with sand-silt
areas along the southwestern flank; juvenile cod and scallops in areas
of sand waves and shell deposits. The goal of Peter Auster and his team
is to develop a better picture of the role that landscape features play
on the distribution of organisms. Through this process, scientists can
better understand if particular areas serve as nursery, breeding, or
feeding grounds for commercially important species. By better understanding
who lives where and when, marine resource managers can better protect
exploited species at critical points in their life cycles.
Getting
to the Bottom of Things
The geological
history of Stellwagen Bank is relatively simple -- it was created (as
was Cape Cod) by the last great ice sheet that deposited sand and gravel
during its northward retreat. In geological terms this happened only
recently, about 18,000 years ago. But what of the underlying bedrock.
Dr. Robert Oldale of the U.S. Geological Survey reports that these rock
formations may have a history that spans more than 500 million years.
A 1994 study using seismic soundings showed that the deepest rock below
the bank resembles bedrock exposed at the surface in eastern Massachusetts
(which ranges in age from 570 million years old when there was little
life on earth to 150 million years when dinosaurs roamed). Between the
bedrock and the glacial deposits, scientists have recorded rock layers
that resemble the strata under the coastal plain of New Jersey (ranging
in age from 140 to 5 million years). These sedimentary deposits were
eroded by rivers and streams, beginning the process that would shape
the present bank. Successive glaciers, in their turn, swept away most
of the coastal plain deposits, leaving behind only remnants of sedimentary
rock and carved basins in the bedrock. The retreat of the Laurentide
Ice Sheet of the last ice age created the bank that we know today.
Sanctuary
Research Plan in Development
On April
6, 1994, over 60 scientists and resource managers from across New England
came together in Plymouth to assist the Sanctuary in identifying specific
scientific research projects the Sanctuary should encourage, support,
and facilitate over the next five years. The workshop, organized by
Peter Auster and Ivar Babb of NOAA's National Undersea Research Center
at the University of Connnecticut, with logistical support provided
by the Urban Harbors Institute at the University of Massachusetts at
Boston, focused on three broad research categories: baseline studies
to determine features and processes of the environment, including abundance,
distribution, and interactions among living marine resources and patterns
of human activities; monitoring studies to document changes in ecological
processes and patterns, environmental quality, and human activities;
and, predictive studies to assess causes and effects of ecological and
environmental changes. A summary document details the workshop recommendations
which cover a broad spectrum of issues, all focused on providing information
to enhance the effective management of Sanctuary resources. The document
is being used as the basis for the Sanctuary's formal research plan,
which will ultimately be incorporated into the Sanctuary management
plan. Copies of the Workshop Summary are available from the Sanctuary
office.
Special
Report Prepared for the New England Fishery Management Council
The New
England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC), seeking innovative management
strategies, and attempting to effectively address the burgeoning interest
in activities such as mariculture, is developing policies to guide them
in identifying and designating "special management areas" or SMAs. While
regional fisheries management councils have had this authority for years
under the Magnuson Act (the federal statute focused on fishery management),
only recently have they begun to identify potential uses for SMA designations.
To assist the New England Council in developing its SMA policies, the
Sanctuary has prepared a special report, delivered to the Council in
January 1995, entitiled "Use of Special Management Areas by Fishery
Management Councils: Examples and a Case Study." As the title suggests,
the report details examples of the use of the SMA designations by regional
councils, with a focus on the groundbreaking work of the South Atlantic
Council in an area known as Oculina Bank off northern Florida. Copies
of the report are available from the Sanctuary office.
A second
special report is currently in preparation which will make recommendations
regarding the process by which SMA designations are made. The report
focuses on guidelines for submission of proposals, possible decisionmaking
criteria, and some observations on implementation and oversight of designated
areas.
Left
Turn or Right
Was it
right at the bank and left at the river? Or vice versa? For some whales,
those long distance migrations don't always go as smoothly as Mother
Nature planned.
On December
3, 1994, a right whale was spotted off Penns Landing, Philadelphia in
the Delaware River -- some 80 miles from the ocean (it eventually reached
100 miles upriver). The animal seemed disoriented and was bumping into
vessels with audible thuds which produced bloody wounds on its head.
Researchers thought the animal might be entangled in debris since it
was swimming at an unusual angle. However, after more study, the rescue
crew decided that the animal was not entangled.
The team
then tried to guide the whale out of the river by playing female right
whale sounds to attract it and killer whale sounds to scare it (killer
whales or orcas prey on young right whales). The would-be rescuers had
nets ready to capture the whale if that option became necessary. In
the end, the whale swam out of Delaware Bay on December 10th and continued
on out into the ocean.
The rescuers
determined that the whale was a juvenile male and named him Shackleton
after Sir Ernest Shackleton, a not-so-very successful Antarctic explorer
who survived ten danger-filled months on the Antarctic ice without a
ship before leading all his men to safety. It was felt that Shackleton
the whale had also encountered his greatest hardship and survived. Although
Shackleton may have suffered some damage during his sojourn up the river
(he was hit by at least one boat -- a tug), the researchers hope to
see him in the Bay of Fundy this summer or perhaps Stellwagen Bank next
spring. Although he wasn't seen in Cape Cod Bay this year, scientists
were not surprised. The whale's older sibling, born in 1990, was not
seen for four years after its birth -- so Shackleton may just be following
family tradition. That earlier sibling and Shackleton's mother had also
been seen near Delaware Bay, so the area may be a sort of landmark for
this family. Perhaps Shackleton just wasn't paying attention when his
Mom showed him the route the first time.
Information
on Shackleton provided by Phil Hamilton, Right Whale Research Group,
New England Aquarium.
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