WATKINS and SCHEVILL: OBSERVATIONS OF RIGHT WHALES 



varied from 1 to 7 min during feeding (Watkins 

 and Schevill 1976), with occasional dives of 20 

 min or longer. Sometimes whales that had been 

 conspicuous in their nearsurface activity sud- 

 denly changed their behavior to that of long dives 

 and very little surface exposure. 



During two observations of these whales in 

 offshore waters, submergences of 20-22 min with 

 nearsurface times of 10-12 min were recorded, 

 demonstrating less surface activity than in the 

 nearshore sightings. A group of 12 whales was 

 observed at lat. 42°50'N, long. 65°00'W on 9 

 August 1974 and another group of 7 whales at lat. 

 42°51'N, long. 65°30'W on 2 August 1976 (not 

 listed in Schevill et al. 1981). Both offshore 

 groups were observed for more than 3 h, but very 

 little surface activity was seen. 



DISCUSSION 



Our sightings do not provide a basis for a right 

 whale census. Observations were sporadic and 

 directed toward behavioral study, so that we 

 usually remained with the first whales that were 

 found. Although our efforts generally were 

 confined to inshore waters, we note similar pat- 

 terns reported in offshore surveys (Winn et al. 3 ). 



Variations in right whale surface behavior 

 probably contribute to variability in sightings. 

 In addition, the elusive behavior often noted in 

 late winter and early spring, coupled with poor 

 weather, may have been responsible for so few 

 sightings during fall and early winter. The peak 

 occurrence (April) of nearshore whales matches 

 Allen's (1916) interpretation of the shore whal- 

 ing data. He indicated that right whales were 

 most abundant in the nearshore area during 

 April and May, absent in July and August, and 

 apparently abundant from November through 

 March (the period of greatest catch). 



The variability in the numbers of right whales 

 sighted in 21 yr, the individual whales' apparent 

 short stay in the area, the changing group com- 

 positions, and the few whales recognized from 

 previous years all appear to indicate that we are 

 seeing only a portion of a larger population of 

 right whales. In other places and other seasons, 



3 Winn, H. E., D. R. Goodale. M. A. M. Hyman, R. D. Kenney, 

 C. A. Price, and G. P. Scott. 1981. Right whale sightings and 

 the right whale minimum count. In A characterization of 

 marine mammals and turtles in the mid- and north-Atlantic 

 areas of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf. Annual Report for 

 1979 Cetacean and Turtle Assessment Program, University of 

 Rhode Island, Kingston, p. 1-37. 



they may not be as visible as they are during 

 their stay in Cape Cod waters. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



We appreciate the help of a large number of 

 observers who shared in the sightings of right 

 whales over 25 yr: Robert G. Weeks, Stanley E. 

 Poole, J. Bercaw, A. D. Colburn, and A. J. Avellar, 

 as well as a host of others including Barbara 

 Lawrence, Richard H. Backus, James E. 

 Craddock, Teresa A. Bray, and Karen E. Moore. 

 Preparation of the figures and correlation of the 

 record of sightings were done by Karen E. 

 Moore. James G. Mead, John H. Prescott, 

 Randall Reeves, and Steven K. Katona helpfully 

 reviewed the manuscript. Funding is from the 

 Oceanic Biology Program of the Office of Naval 

 Research (Contract N00014-82-C0019 NR 083- 

 004). 



LITERATURE CITED 



Allen, G. M. 



1916. The whalebone whales of New England. Mem. 

 Boston Soc. Nat . Hist. 8(2), 322 p. 

 Klumov, S. K. 



1962. The right whales in the Pacific Ocean. [In Russ., 

 Engl, summ.] Tr. Inst. Okeanol. Akad. Nauk SSSR 

 58:202-297. 

 Leung, Y.-M. 



1967. An illustrated key to the species of whale-lice 

 (Amphipoda, Cyamidae), ectoparasites of Cetacea, with 

 a guide to the literature. Crustaceana 12:279-291. 

 Payne, R. 



1974. A playground for whales. Anim. Kingdom 77(2): 



7-12. 

 1976. At home with right whales. Natl. Geogr. Mag. 

 149:322-339. 

 Reeves, R. R., J. G. Mead, and S. Katona. 



1978. The right whale, Eubalaena glacialis, in the 

 western north Atlantic. Rep. Int. Whaling Comm. 

 28:303-312. 

 Schevill, W. E., R. H. Backus, and J. B. Hersey. 



1962. Sound production by marine animals. In M. N. 

 Hill (editor), The sea, Vol. 1, p. 540-566. John Wiley 

 and Sons, N.Y. 

 Schevill, W. E., K. E. Moore, and W. A. Watkins. 



1981. Right whale, Eubalaena, glacialis, sightings in 

 Cape Cod waters. Woods Hole Oceanogr. Inst., Tech. 

 Rep. WHOI-81-50, 16 p. 

 Schevill, W. E., and W. A. Watkins. 



1962. Whale and porpoise voices. A phonograph record. 

 Woods Hole Oceanogr. Inst., Woods Hole, Mass., 24-p. 

 pamphlet and record. 

 Watkins, W. A., and W. E. Schevill. 



1971. Four hydrophone array for acoustic three-dimen- 

 sional location. Woods Hole Oceanogr. Inst., Ref. No. 

 71-60, 33 p. 



1972. Sound source location by arrival-times on a non- 



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