144 



P ES-21/1 3/L TO: Right whales are sighted only rarely on Stellwagen Bank (see 

 Figs. 2 and B-15 through B-28 in Kraus and Kenney, 1991). 



P 2-3/1 3/1- ^- Meyer et al. (1979) is probably not the most appropriate reference 

 for Stellwagen Bank bathymetry. 



P 3-1/1 1/L 9: While it is true that the CETAP surveys sighted no sperm whales in 

 the Gulf of Maine, there have been some sightings in the north-central Gulf 

 and near Browns Bank (Hain et al., in prep.). 



P 3-6/1 1: The estimates in Winn et al. (1987) are for Georges Bank (as defined 

 therein) only, and do not include the rest of the Gulf of Maine. They are also 

 not corrected for individuals not sighted dge to diving. The estimates in Hain 

 et al. (1992) for fin whales, and in CETAP (1982) for right and humpback 

 whales, are scaled for missed animals and would be better for the three 

 endangered species. There are no scaled estimates for any of the other 

 cetacean species. 



P 3-6/1 2/L 4-6: This statement is not true for all cetacean species. The general 

 trend is for cetaceans to be where their food is, which might be correlated 

 with bathymetry and fronts for some prey species. Humpback distributions 

 are directly correlated to steep bottoms, but right whales tend to be over 

 deeper waters displaced at some distance from the steep bottom and frontal 

 zone (Brown and Winn, 1989). 



P 3-7/1 1/L 3-4: A recent publication (which I can't find for the life of me) sug- 

 gested that the attribution of "right" whale meaning "correct" whale to early 

 English whalers might be simply folk wisdom and not accurate (I'm guilty of 

 writing this myself many times.). The alternative suggested was right whale 

 in the sense of "true" whale, a literal translation from the Latin genus name 

 Eubalaena. 



P 3-7/1 2: This paragraph uses the term "population" in two different and non- 

 equivalent senses: one for the three subspecies (Note that not all researchers 

 accept separate species status for the southern right whale. Few valid 

 systematic studies have been done. Dr. Jim Mead (Mead, 1992) from the 

 Smithsonian is in the doubter's camp.), and one for separate breeding stocks 

 within the North Atlantic. "Stock" might be the better term in the latter case. 



P 3-7/1 3/L 9-1 1 : It is an exaggeration to say that heavy right whale exploitation 

 continued in the North Atlantic until 1935. Yankee pelagic whalers largely 

 switched to sperm whales in the 18th Century. The eastern Atlantic fishery 

 essentially stopped in 1926 (Brown, 1986). A calf was shot by fisherman in 



