INTRODUCnON 



Despite more than 50 years of protection, the North Atlantic right whale 

 ( Eubalaena glacialis ) continues to be the most endangered of the large cetaceans. In 

 their introduction to the "Right Whales ( Eubalaena glacialis ) in the Western North 

 Atlantic: A Catalog of Identified Individuals," Crone and Kraus (1990) describe the 

 population and its known distribution as follows: 



"The North Atlantic right whale ( Eubalaena glacialis ) is now 

 the rarest of the large whales. Current estimates indicate that 

 no more than 300- 350 survive along the eastern coast of 

 North America. Sightings have been reported from as far 

 south as the Gulf of Mexico, and as far north as Iceland, but 

 most of the population is apparently distributed between 

 Nova Scotia and Florida. Major aggregations have been 

 described in the Great South Channel and Cape Cod Bay 

 from late winter to early summer (Schevill et al., 1986; Winn 

 et al., 1986), and in the Bay of Fundy (Gaskin, 1987; Kraus et 

 al., 1982) and on the Nova Scotian shelf (Stone et al., 1988) 

 from early summer to late autumn. Winter distribution for 

 most of the population is unknown, but the primary winter 

 calving ground appears to be the coastal waters between 

 Savannah, Georgia, and Cape Canaveral, Florida (Kraus et 

 al., 1986, 1988)." 



Because there is interest in the development of offshore oil and gas resources 

 within the known range of right whales, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) 

 Environmental Studies Program funded this study to develop satellite-monitored radio 

 tags to examine the movements,, habits and habitats of the North Atlantic right whales. 

 The resulting tag is to be subsequently used on bowhead whales in the Beaufort Sea. 



The main objectives of this contract were to: 1) develop a satellite-monitored 

 radio tag for use on right whales; 2) tag up to 10 right whales; 3) periodically relocate, 

 observe and examine tagged whales in order to assess the accuracy of locations and 

 evaluate the performance of the tag and deployment mechanisms; 4) provide photo 

 documentation of the attachment methods and possible effects of the tag on the animal's 

 physical well being and behavior; 5) document right whale movements including residency 

 times, migration pathways, timing and speeds; and 6) relate the location of animals to 

 known habitat characteristics and locations of other tagged whales to identify habitat 

 preferences. 



This report reviews the development of the tags and the resulting data obtained 

 from satellite-monitored right whales during two field seasons: August - October 1989 

 and August -September 1990. The largest part of this report is the "Results" section 

 which analyzes the biological data (Contract Task J, Monitoring and Analysis) and is 



