14 DAY TRIAL // North Atlantic right whales are listed as an endangered species, and conservationists are doing their best to help them escape extinction.
To do so, they first need to know where these animals breed. According to new evidence collected by NOAA researchers, the central Gulf of Maine is one of this species' love nests.
After spending nearly 6 years monitoring whales traveling to and from this area, the scientists concluded that, between the months of November and January, many adult North Atlantic right whales gathered in the Gulf of Maine.
True, it might be that they meet to discuss politics and economy. Still, specialists suspect that there's more to these meetings than pleasurable conversation.
“A high proportion of potential mates aggregated in the central Gulf of Maine between November and January, and these same individuals produced a calf a year later.”
“We concluded that this is a pretty strong indication of a mating ground if the gestation period is 12 months,” biologist Tim Cole says.