Ottawa will do what is needed to protect ‘majestic’ right whales, minister says

Federal Fisheries Minister Dominic Leblanc says Ottawa will do whatever is needed to protect right whales and bolster their numbers.

Leblanc held a briefing Thursday morning in Moncton, N.B., to address the 10 right whale deaths in the Gulf of St. Lawrence since early June.

He says Canadians have been moved by the deaths, and scientists are studying all potential measures and he expects to convene a symposium to finalize the choices.

He says he flew over an area east of Miscou Island in New Brunswick Thursday and saw 15 to 20 right whales — he called it a “majestic” sight.

He says it’s believed there are 80 to 100 right whales currently in the gulf and scientists believe similar numbers will be there next year as they search for food.

During the summer, right whales are normally found between Cape Cod and the Bay of Fundy, which have previously been marked as critical habitats.

According to Gary Stenson, section head of marine mammal research with DFO in Newfoundland, the Gulf of the St. Lawrence has become the ideal environment for copepods, a small crustacean that is a primary food source for right whales.

Leblanc says mariners have been asked to take voluntary measures such as slowing to 10 knots and for fishermen to limit the amount of rope they have on the water.

The department has taken other steps to prevent further deaths, including shortening the snow crab season and asking fishermen in the gulf to report any whale sightings.

Stenson asks that whale sightings be reported to DFO along with any information about what the whale looked like and how confident the viewer is in identifying the animal and species. The more data Stenson and his team are able to collect, the better they will be able to understand the movement and habitat of all whales in the region.

“We do get a lot of animals washing up on the west shore of Newfoundland,” Stenson says, explaining that just because the four whales have beached in Newfoundland, it is not necessarily an indication of where they died. Those found on the west shore had already been dead several months before arriving there.

DFO in Newfoundland has set up recording devices around the coastline of the province to catch whale calls which will be analyzed within six months to get an understanding of which species are in the area.

Collisions with ships and fishing gear entanglements are major threats for the whales.

A final report on the necropsies of several whales is not expected until mid September, and Leblanc says that will inform final decisions.

Fisheries officials have said the number of right whale deaths is concerning, considering there is an estimated population of about 500.