{"id":411372,"date":"2026-01-16T18:33:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T18:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/411372\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T18:33:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T18:33:11","slug":"dozens-of-nearly-extinct-whales-found-off-the-coast-of-cape-cod","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/411372\/","title":{"rendered":"Dozens of nearly extinct whales found off the coast of Cape Cod"},"content":{"rendered":"

CAPE COD, Mass. – A group of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales<\/a> were spotted off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachussets, on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The Center for Coastal Studies<\/a> (CCS) observed 33 out of 384 whales that remain in the world during an aerial survey.<\/p>\n

“Saturday\u2019s survey may be the highest number of right whales documented in the bay in a single day in January in the history of CCS aerial surveys,” CCS said in a press release.<\/p>\n

477 Whales Die In ‘Heartbreaking’ Mass Strandings On New Zealand Islands<\/a><\/p>\n

The first sighting of the season was on Dec. 5 when the organization noticed 10 whales<\/a> in the bay.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s observations put the total number of whales seen this season at 54.<\/p>\n

“Most of our sightings in December and early January have been of animals in what we call surface-active groups, but almost all of the whales on Saturday\u2019s flight were observed in shallow subsurface feeding,”\u00a0CCS Aerial Observer Ryan Schosberg said.<\/p>\n

The researchers said that the survey was not only noteworthy because of the number of whales spotted in the bay, but a right whale male that is at least 45 years old was seen as well.<\/p>\n

This was the first time the whale was documented in 15 years.<\/p>\n

2 Entangled Right Whales Spotted Off Coast Of Massachusetts<\/a><\/p>\n

On top of that, the organization observed a calf whale that was discovered during the 2024 to 2025 field season.<\/p>\n

“Every calf is a lifeline for this endangered species,” Dr. Daniel Palacios, director of the center\u2019s Right Whale Ecology Program, said. “Confirming\u2026a new calf in real time is a powerful reminder of what\u2019s possible through vigilant observation and strong collaboration across the right whale scientific community.”<\/p>\n

\"North<\/p>\n

North Atlantic right whale Archipelago and her calf off the coast of Southeast Georgia.<\/p>\n

(FOX Weather)<\/p>\n

According to the New England Aquarium<\/a>, the North Atlantic right whale is one of the rarest whale species in the world.<\/p>\n

In the early 1890s, commercial whalers had hunted the animal to the brink of extinction, per the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration <\/a>(NOAA).<\/p>\n

They are typically seen off the coast of New England and Canada<\/a>, but during the fall, they can be found swimming off the coast of South Carolina<\/a>, Georgia<\/a> and northeastern Florida<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Vessel strikes and fishing gear entanglement represent a few of the greatest threats to these critically endangered species, with 86% of the whales getting entangled at least once during their lifetime.<\/p>\n

Important efforts have been taken in order to reduce the dangers. NOAA implemented seasonal management plans in the Cape Cod area which limits vessels to 65 feet and long to 10 knots, which began on Jan. 1.<\/p>\n

How To Watch Fox Weather<\/a><\/p>\n

Additionally, restrictions involving vessel speeds for smaller ships and fixed fishing gear go into effect on Feb. 1.<\/p>\n

Original article source: Dozens of nearly extinct whales found off the coast of Cape Cod<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CAPE COD, Mass. – A group of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales were spotted off the coast…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":411373,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[148137,20288,10012,2027,197347,103585,103583,79,201],"class_list":["post-411372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-aerial-survey","tag-cape","tag-critically-endangered-species","tag-endangered-species","tag-north-atlantic","tag-north-atlantic-right-whale","tag-right-whales","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411372"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411372\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/411373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}