Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 21, 1993 TAG: 9302210008
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium
PROJECT PROBES WHY WHALES VISIT VIRGINIA
Scientists are trying to find out why humpback whales increasingly are spending winters off the Virginia and North Carolina coasts, a region they've never been known to live in before.Researchers with the International Wildlife Coalition in New England are spending February off the Virginia coast to gather data and tissue samples. The study is part of an effort to help preserve the endangered marine mammals.
"You've got something very special and very disturbing here," said biologist David Wiley, chief researcher for the project. "There are a lot of animals who are not supposed to be here, which poses a lot of interesting questions."
From 1985 through 1988, only two juvenile humpback whales were reported dead or dying on beaches from New Jersey to Florida. From 1989 through 1992, that number skyrocketed to 32.
Of those, 17 were stranded on Virginia Beach and the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Most died from being struck by boats or entangled in fishing gear.
"This has been an important area for people," Wiley said. "And it's becoming an important area for animals. We need to find a way to coexist."
Just as the international conservation and research group from North Falmouth, Mass., is conducting its study, biologists from the Virginia Marine Science Museum plan to publish preliminary findings this spring from their own yearlong research on the whales.
Among the findings is that the humpbacks in the area are less than 5 years old. They also aren't just passing through on their way to the Caribbean or the West Indies, the local scientists said.
"We are studying a very crucial part of the population, young whales, the next generation of adults," said W. Mark Swingle, whale researcher and the museum's assistant curator.
After gathering information for several more years, Swingle hopes to be able to determine why the young whales suddenly have taken to the area.
A couple of theories prevail.
It's possible the whales are too young to breed, so they're stopping to feed off the waters around the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. Or perhaps whale protection laws have done their job and the population is recovering, causing competition for food and forcing some to seek other sources.
The New England group is determining the location of whales in relation to commercial, military and fishing vessels and to fishing nets. The group's survey runs from Ocean City, Md., to Cape Hatteras.
The research team witnessed a near collision when a whale was forced to swim under a barge with a 20-foot draw in a 40-foot-deep channel.
The researchers are taking tissue samples to determine what population group the whales are coming from and to check for toxins. The coalition will present its conclusions to the National Marine Fisheries Service and make recommendations for protection, such as speed limits for watercraft in feeding grounds.