Study Area Characteristics 



Figure 89 shows the Labrador and Nova Scotia currents as well as the Gulf Stream 

 in relation to the Gulf of Maine (GOM). GOM water circulates in a counter-clockwise 

 fashion and explains why temperature profiles east and northeast of Jeffrey's Ledge are so 

 comparable. GOM water exits southerly around Cape Cod via the Great South Channel and 

 to the south after going clockwise around George's Bank. Water leaving the GOM 

 continues southwesterly on the New England Shelf as a weak nearshore shelf current. 

 Slightly further offshore, slope waters parallel the southerly shelf water movements. Even 

 farther offshore, the Gulf Stream flows north, then east paralleling the continental slope 

 contours (Butman and Beardsley, 1987). In the western Gulf of Maine there is a small 

 clockwise eddy northeast of Jeffrey's Ledge (Bigelow, 1927). 



Sea Surface Temperature 



The documented movements and dive characteristics of three whales (PTT #843, 

 PTT #823 and PTT #839) during this project appear to be correlated with certain 

 oceanographic factors/processes. We obtained sea surface temperature images of the study 

 area from the NOAA Marine Climatology Investigation at the University of Rhode Island 

 Remote Sensing Laboratory. Movements of the whales with longer tracks (PTT #823 and 

 PTT #839) were plotted over the temporal oceanographic features. Selected images are 

 provided here but, regrettably, do not reproduce well in black and white. Readers working 

 from an NTIS copy may wish to consult one of the color masters on file with MMS in the 

 Alaska or the Atlantic Regional Office or MMS headquarters in Washington, D.C. 



The temperature scale reads as follows: 



White = Cloud cover 



Red = 2 - 5°C 



Blue = 7 - 10°C 



Green = 11-18°C 



Yellow = 19 - 24°C 



Orange = 25+°C 



Figure 90 shows the movement of a female (PTT #839) with a calf along the 

 convergence of a warmer (offshore) and cooler (nearshore) body of water. By 16 September 

 this whale had moved around Cape Cod and was crisscrossing a region of cold water east 

 of Long Island Sound. This zigzag pattern may be an attempt to stay in a nutrient dense 

 patch of food. 



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