Uploaded April 2025 | Updated September 2026, 53 minutes ago
April 24th is Right Whale Day in Massachusetts! 🐋
This special day shines a light on critically endangered North Atlantic right whales. This video, filmed recently in Cape Cod Bay, shows a right whale mother named Blackheart with her second calf. It also shows the whales swimming in a "V" shape, with one whale in the lead—a pattern known as "echelon feeding."
Right whales face threats like entanglement in fishing gear, vessel strikes, and a rapidly changing habitat. At WHOI, researchers are advancing solutions to protect them—ranging from real-time acoustic monitoring to testing fishing gear that reduces the risk of entanglement while supporting coastal livelihoods.
🤔 Did you know:
🐋 Each right whale’s callosity pattern (the rough skin patches on their heads) is unique, like a fingerprint, helping scientists identify individuals over time.
🐳 Right whales got their name from whalers who considered them the "right" whales to hunt—they’re slow, float after being hunted, and often stay close to shore.
Learn more about these magnificent whales and how WHOI is working to protect them: go.whoi.edu/RightWhale
#RightWhaleDay #NorthAtlanticRightWhale #OceanConservation #MarineMammalProtection #WHOIAre
📸 Michael Moore, NMFS permit 27066
© Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
April 24th is Right Whale Day in Massachusetts! 🐋
This special day shines a light on critically endangered North Atlantic right whales. This video, filmed recently in Cape Cod Bay, shows a right whale mother named Blackheart with her second calf. It also shows the whales swimming in a "V" shape, with one whale in the lead—a pattern known as "echelon feeding."
Right whales face threats like entanglement in fishing gear, vessel strikes, and a rapidly changing habitat. At WHOI, researchers are advancing solutions to protect them—ranging from real-time acoustic monitoring to testing fishing gear that reduces the risk of entanglement while supporting coastal livelihoods.
🤔 Did you know:
🐋 Each right whale’s callosity pattern (the rough skin patches on their heads) is unique, like a fingerprint, helping scientists identify individuals over time.
🐳 Right whales got their name from whalers who considered them the "right" whales to hunt—they’re slow, float after being hunted, and often stay close to shore.
Learn more about these magnificent whales and how WHOI is working to protect them: go.whoi.edu/RightWhale
#RightWhaleDay #NorthAtlanticRightWhale #OceanConservation #MarineMammalProtection #WHOIAre
📸 Michael Moore, NMFS permit 27066
© Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
