A Whale of a Time
8/12/2022 – Breaching Humpback Whale, CMWWRC Database. Photo by Mackenzie Briggs. Friday, August 12th, 2022 had started like any normal day interning on the American Star for the Cape May Whale Watch and Research Center. I prepared the equipment for a day researching Cape May’s marine life. I had no idea that this day would…
Interactions Between Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) and Dolphins
It is strongly believed that cetaceans, which consist of whales, dolphins, and porpoises, are some of the more intelligent species that exist alongside human beings on this planet. Naturally, due to this high level of intelligence, they are more likely to have interactions with other individuals. These individuals can be members of their own species,…
Whaling in the 21st Century
In 1986 the International Whaling Commission (IWC) put a moratorium, essentially a pause, on the hunting of all whale species and populations. This pause on commercial whaling was put in place to protect species that had nearly been hunted to extinction. However, since the establishment of this moratorium, three nations (Iceland, Norway, and Japan) have…
Unusual Mortality Event Strikes East Coast
Unusual Mortality Event Strikes East Coast As of 2016, the Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) indigenous to our east coast has been taken off of the EPA’s endangered species list. The same year, January of 2016, marked the beginning of the Humpback whale Unusual Mortality Event (UME), from Maine to North Carolina, that would continue through…