This is the first time a North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) was initially documented in Irish waters; before that, it was unknown to scientists. The whale then crossed the Atlantic Ocean and was confirmed through a photographic match, some 4,800 kilometers (3,000 miles) away near Boston.<\/p>\n
\u201cEncounters like this highlight both their [right whales\u2019] resilience and the importance of international cooperation to support their recovery,\u201d Daniel Palacios, director of the right\u00a0whale\u00a0ecology program at the nonprofit Center for Coastal Studies (CCS), said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n Researchers don\u2019t quite know what prompted the whale\u2019s transatlantic journey. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to say if they\u2019re looking for food or they\u2019re just exploring,\u201d Amy Warren, a scientific program officer with the New England Aquarium\u2019s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life, told Mongabay in a video call. Her group helps match photographic identifications for right whales and maintains a catalog of them.<\/p>\n Today, an estimated 384 North Atlantic right whales remain, nearly all inhabiting the western North Atlantic. This population historically migrated along the east coast of the U.S. and Canada. But over the last decade, warming temperatures have pushed the whales farther north, into cooler Canadian waters.<\/p>\n Scientists believe there was once a subpopulation of these whales in the eastern Atlantic until whaling extirpated them from European waters. Though the recently spotted whale is the first to be initially discovered in Ireland, it is one of seven that have been documented crossing the Atlantic from Irish waters.<\/p>\n \u201cAll the other whales were first seen here in their normal area on the east coast of the U.S. and Canada, already documented in the catalog, then went to Europe and came back. This one, to our knowledge, has never been seen before until it was first seen in Ireland,\u201d Warren said.<\/p>\n Warren said other right whales are also known to venture outside the usual migration route.<\/p>\n