Council AgendaMeeting DateApril 26, 2010Meeting LocationMunicipal Council ChambersCall to OrderWarden Jim ThurberReading of Mission StatementWarden Jim ThurberPause to Seek GuidanceWarden Jim ThurberDocumentsSubject AreaApproval of the AgendaAdditions/DeletionsCouncilStaffSpecial PresentationsPresentations& HearingsMike Gushue, ADEDA 2010/2011Business PlanMinutesApproval/AmendmentsMarch 22, 2010
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Council AgendaBusinessArising from Minutes1.2.Deputy Warden MacAlpineCouncillor GregoryCouncillor AmeroCouncillor AdamsWarden ThurberNew Business# 1New Weymouth LibraryRecommendation from BuildingCommittee for name # 2Bay of FundyDiscovery Centre AssociationBalancing Rock Trail-Signage # 3Planning AdvisoryCommitteePatricia MacConnell Application# 4Plympton & Gilberts Cove Fire DepartmentGuarantee of $ 100,000 loan fromBNS to pay off existing loans and purchase used truck# 5Trinity AnglicanChurchFunding request for help withsummer student wages# 6Wharf Rat RallyFunding Request $ 5,000
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Council AgendaAdministrationCAO ReportMeeting UpdatesProject UpdatesPayables- March, 2010$ 658,161.71Financial ReportMarch 31, 2010 UnauditedCorrespondence1.Minister of HealthEmergency Care Report2.Mary McCarthyCarol MahtabCopy of Letter to EnvironmentAssessment Officer, NaturalResources3.Evelyn HaydenAshraf MahtabCopy of Letter to Minister OfEnvironment4.5.
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Council AgendaCouncil Committees1.COTWFirst Reading of Amendment toTax Exemption By-law addingNova Scotia Bird Sanctuary &Trust property (Peter’s Island)2.By-law &PolicyAdvisory Committees# 1 REMOManagementPlanningCommitteeWarden Thurber/Deputy Warden MacAlpine# 2 Heritage AdvisoryCommitteeCouncillor AmeroCouncillor Adams# 3 PlanningAdvisoryCommitteeWarden ThurberDeputy Warden MacAlpineCouncillor Gregory# 4 Police AdvisoryCommitteeCouncillor GregoryCouncillor AmeroCouncillor AdamsMinutes January 12, 2010Share the Road ProgramResignation of Wendell Gregoryfrom Police Advisory Committee# 5 Tri CountyHousingAuthorityR Fitzgerald
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Council AgendaRegional/JointCommittees# 1Airport WorkingGroupDeputy Warden MacAlpineCouncillor AdamsMeeting scheduled for May 5# 2Annapolis DigbyEconomic DevelopmentAgencyWarden Thurber Minutes March 2010Managing Director Report#3Digby Annapolis DevelopmentCorpWarden ThurberCouncillor AmeroApril meeting postponed until May#4Digby AreaLearningAssociationCouncillor Adams#5Digby AreaTourismAssociationCouncillor GregoryUpdate #6Digby AreaRecreation CommitteeCouncillor GregoryCouncillor Amero#7Digby HarbourPort AssociationCouncillor Gregory#8FundywebBroadbandDeputy Warden MacAlpine Councillor AmeroMinutes March 12, 2010Meeting held April 15th# 9IndustrialCommissionDeputy WardenMacAlpine Councillor AmeroApril meeting postponed# 10 Kings Transit AuthorityCouncillor AmeroApril Board Package# 11 Senior SafetyCommitteeCouncillor Adams Councillor Gregory# 12 Tideview TerraceCouncillor GregoryWarden Thurber & Councillor Adams # 13 Waste CheckDeputy Warden MacAlpineCouncillor GregoryNo meeting in April# 14 Western Counties Regional LibraryDeputy Warden MacAlpine
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Council AgendaCouncil ReportsWarden ThurberDeputy WardenMacAlpineCouncillor GregoryCouncillorAmeroCouncillor AdamsNotice of MotionIn CameraSurplus PropertyAdjournment
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Plant Sale Fundraiser
Plant sale Fundraiser
Flora Doehler | April 23, 2010 at 11:06 pm Perennial Plant Sale
$2 to $5
The Bear River Insight Meditation Group is raising funds through the sale of a variety of perennials including this vibrant orange-red-yellow lily.
Actual photo of the lilies for sale.
Many deep orange-red lilies are available.
Potted plants are available on a first-come, first-served basis at
6709 Sissiboo Road, Bear River.
Watch for the table at the roadside.
Flora Doehler | April 23, 2010 at 11:06 pm Perennial Plant Sale
$2 to $5
The Bear River Insight Meditation Group is raising funds through the sale of a variety of perennials including this vibrant orange-red-yellow lily.
Actual photo of the lilies for sale.
Many deep orange-red lilies are available.
Potted plants are available on a first-come, first-served basis at
6709 Sissiboo Road, Bear River.
Watch for the table at the roadside.
Labels:
Bear River Nova Scotia
Eastport also Westport Tides
23
Apr
Tidal Power: Generating Megawatts Like Clockwork
Posted by Big Gav in ocean energy, tidal power
The New York Times has a look at the past and future of tidal power in Maine - Generating Megawatts Like Clockwork.
WHEN Christopher R. Sauer stands before the swirling waters of the Western Passage and describes his company’s alternative energy vision, he doesn’t see an army of wind turbines or banks of solar cells.
In fact, Mr. Sauer sees nothing at all that could block his view of Canada, just across the channel. For if his plans come to fruition, an array of turbines will be operating out of sight, deep under the water, cranking out power to a substation on shore.
His company, Ocean Renewable Power, is one of a number of start-ups trying to develop tidal energy — water-powered turbines that spin in the current as the tides come and go, turning generators to make electricity that is clean and, they hope, reasonably priced.
“We’re not going to beat out the old coal plants in the Ohio Valley,” said Mr. Sauer, who has decades of experience developing co-generation plants and other power projects. “But we will be competitive with any new power source, including fossil fuels.”
That’s an ambitious goal, but Mr. Sauer, the company’s president and chief executive, has at least gravity and the earth’s rotational energy on his side.
Tides come and go twice a day everywhere around the globe. In places like Eastport — a former sardine capital at the mouth of the Bay of Fundy that is surrounded by deep channels like the Western Passage — tidal power makes the most sense, at least for the moment.
Here the tides are very high and the current strong, reaching about 6 knots, or 7 miles per hour, at peak flows four times a day. “We’ve got the best tidal current on the East Coast,” Mr. Sauer said.
Tidal power is not a new idea. A few tidal generating stations are already operating around the world, including one in France that is more than four decades old. But they represent an older approach, one that employs barrages, or dams, to hold back the high tide. The water is then released through turbines, like a conventional hydroelectric plant, when the tide goes out.
Eastport itself was the site of an elaborate and enormous barrage project, proposed in the 1930s during the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who knew of the great tides here, having spent many summers on Campobello Island nearby. The project, the East Coast’s answer to Hoover Dam, was abandoned after a year.
Apr
Tidal Power: Generating Megawatts Like Clockwork
Posted by Big Gav in ocean energy, tidal power
The New York Times has a look at the past and future of tidal power in Maine - Generating Megawatts Like Clockwork.
WHEN Christopher R. Sauer stands before the swirling waters of the Western Passage and describes his company’s alternative energy vision, he doesn’t see an army of wind turbines or banks of solar cells.
In fact, Mr. Sauer sees nothing at all that could block his view of Canada, just across the channel. For if his plans come to fruition, an array of turbines will be operating out of sight, deep under the water, cranking out power to a substation on shore.
His company, Ocean Renewable Power, is one of a number of start-ups trying to develop tidal energy — water-powered turbines that spin in the current as the tides come and go, turning generators to make electricity that is clean and, they hope, reasonably priced.
“We’re not going to beat out the old coal plants in the Ohio Valley,” said Mr. Sauer, who has decades of experience developing co-generation plants and other power projects. “But we will be competitive with any new power source, including fossil fuels.”
That’s an ambitious goal, but Mr. Sauer, the company’s president and chief executive, has at least gravity and the earth’s rotational energy on his side.
Tides come and go twice a day everywhere around the globe. In places like Eastport — a former sardine capital at the mouth of the Bay of Fundy that is surrounded by deep channels like the Western Passage — tidal power makes the most sense, at least for the moment.
Here the tides are very high and the current strong, reaching about 6 knots, or 7 miles per hour, at peak flows four times a day. “We’ve got the best tidal current on the East Coast,” Mr. Sauer said.
Tidal power is not a new idea. A few tidal generating stations are already operating around the world, including one in France that is more than four decades old. But they represent an older approach, one that employs barrages, or dams, to hold back the high tide. The water is then released through turbines, like a conventional hydroelectric plant, when the tide goes out.
Eastport itself was the site of an elaborate and enormous barrage project, proposed in the 1930s during the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who knew of the great tides here, having spent many summers on Campobello Island nearby. The project, the East Coast’s answer to Hoover Dam, was abandoned after a year.
Labels:
tidal power Eastport Maine
NS Energy from Winnepeg Free Press
Winnipeg Free Press
Nova Scotia says it's setting most aggressive renewable power targets in Canada
By: Michael Macdonald, THE CANADIAN PRESS
23/04/2010 6:32 PM
PICTOU, N.S. - It may be Canada's second-smallest province, but Nova Scotia is planning to become a green giant when it comes to renewable energy.
The province's NDP government introduced a bold plan Friday that commits the province to getting 40 per cent of its electricity from renewable resources by 2020.
Premier Darrell Dexter said the plan is one of the most aggressive in North America in terms of growing the green energy sector.
"This is the transformation of a province that currently has an electricity supply that's based almost 90 per cent on fossil fuels," he said, referring to the fact Nova Scotia gets most of its energy from coal-fired generating plants.
"We will increase the amount of renewable energy by four-fold by 2020."
California, a green leader in the United States, has committed to getting only 33 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2030.
But the premier was quick to note that Nova Scotia can't compare itself with provinces like Quebec, Manitoba and British Columbia, where hydroelectric dams already provide more than 80 per cent of each province's electricity.
Still, Nova Scotia has set a significant challenge for itself. Today only 11 per cent of its electricity comes from renewable sources.
"We are so heavily dependent on fossil fuels that, if we do not make the conversion, we run the real risk ... that our economy will become uncompetitive (and) that ordinary homeowners will see rapidly increasing prices of electricity," Dexter said.
Electricity rates have already jumped 30 per cent in the past five years in Nova Scotia.
Standing atop Dalhousie Mountain in northern Nova Scotia, surrounded by 34 huge wind turbines, the premier said the plan will create hundreds of jobs, but it requires about $1.5 billion in investment from the public and private sector.
Government sources also confirmed the province will need a new transmission line to New Brunswick.
To be sure, the green plan won't come cheap.
Consumers can expect to pay between $10 and $20 more for electricity every year between now and 2015, officials said during a technical briefing. There were no cost estimates beyond that date.
The province has said it wants to get at least 25 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2015, which the NDP government says it will now enshrine in legislation.
"Consumers can look forward to more stable electricity prices and a more secure supply of energy," Dexter told a crowd of about 100 who gathered in the shadow of a massive turbine that whirred in the background.
The Pictou County wind farm, the largest in Nova Scotia, was completed last year at a cost of $130 million. At its peak, the RMSenergy LP site can supply about 17,000 homes with 51 megawatts of electricity.
The province's plan is calling for an additional 300 megawatts of electricity, most of that coming from privately owned Nova Scotia Power Inc. That's enough power to feed 500,000 homes.
Reuben Burge, president of the RMSenergy, said the plan sets a high target but that doesn't bother him.
"With a plan in place, it gives us something to work toward," he said.
By 2020, the province expects wind farms will become Nova Scotia's single-largest source of renewable energy. But the province is also looking to boost investment in tidal power in the Bay of Fundy, while enhancing other sources.
Other initiatives include:
-encouraging community-based electricity projects by offering a fixed price for power at a rate that will help cover costs and provide a small profit;
-expanding the use of net-metering, which credits consumers for the energy they produce from wind, solar and other renewable sources;
-putting a cap on the use biomass, which involves the burning of wood waste from the forestry industry;
-and encouraging the use of locally produced natural gas.
Nova Scotia says it's setting most aggressive renewable power targets in Canada
By: Michael Macdonald, THE CANADIAN PRESS
23/04/2010 6:32 PM
PICTOU, N.S. - It may be Canada's second-smallest province, but Nova Scotia is planning to become a green giant when it comes to renewable energy.
The province's NDP government introduced a bold plan Friday that commits the province to getting 40 per cent of its electricity from renewable resources by 2020.
Premier Darrell Dexter said the plan is one of the most aggressive in North America in terms of growing the green energy sector.
"This is the transformation of a province that currently has an electricity supply that's based almost 90 per cent on fossil fuels," he said, referring to the fact Nova Scotia gets most of its energy from coal-fired generating plants.
"We will increase the amount of renewable energy by four-fold by 2020."
California, a green leader in the United States, has committed to getting only 33 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2030.
But the premier was quick to note that Nova Scotia can't compare itself with provinces like Quebec, Manitoba and British Columbia, where hydroelectric dams already provide more than 80 per cent of each province's electricity.
Still, Nova Scotia has set a significant challenge for itself. Today only 11 per cent of its electricity comes from renewable sources.
"We are so heavily dependent on fossil fuels that, if we do not make the conversion, we run the real risk ... that our economy will become uncompetitive (and) that ordinary homeowners will see rapidly increasing prices of electricity," Dexter said.
Electricity rates have already jumped 30 per cent in the past five years in Nova Scotia.
Standing atop Dalhousie Mountain in northern Nova Scotia, surrounded by 34 huge wind turbines, the premier said the plan will create hundreds of jobs, but it requires about $1.5 billion in investment from the public and private sector.
Government sources also confirmed the province will need a new transmission line to New Brunswick.
To be sure, the green plan won't come cheap.
Consumers can expect to pay between $10 and $20 more for electricity every year between now and 2015, officials said during a technical briefing. There were no cost estimates beyond that date.
The province has said it wants to get at least 25 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2015, which the NDP government says it will now enshrine in legislation.
"Consumers can look forward to more stable electricity prices and a more secure supply of energy," Dexter told a crowd of about 100 who gathered in the shadow of a massive turbine that whirred in the background.
The Pictou County wind farm, the largest in Nova Scotia, was completed last year at a cost of $130 million. At its peak, the RMSenergy LP site can supply about 17,000 homes with 51 megawatts of electricity.
The province's plan is calling for an additional 300 megawatts of electricity, most of that coming from privately owned Nova Scotia Power Inc. That's enough power to feed 500,000 homes.
Reuben Burge, president of the RMSenergy, said the plan sets a high target but that doesn't bother him.
"With a plan in place, it gives us something to work toward," he said.
By 2020, the province expects wind farms will become Nova Scotia's single-largest source of renewable energy. But the province is also looking to boost investment in tidal power in the Bay of Fundy, while enhancing other sources.
Other initiatives include:
-encouraging community-based electricity projects by offering a fixed price for power at a rate that will help cover costs and provide a small profit;
-expanding the use of net-metering, which credits consumers for the energy they produce from wind, solar and other renewable sources;
-putting a cap on the use biomass, which involves the burning of wood waste from the forestry industry;
-and encouraging the use of locally produced natural gas.
Labels:
Nova Scotia energy Winnepeg
Public Inquiry: Wind turbines, nature and landscape
from the BBC news
Matlock Moor wind farm plan rejected
The planned turbines would have been up to 125m (410ft) high
Plans to build a wind farm in Derbyshire have been rejected following a public inquiry into the scheme.
West Coast Energy wanted to build five wind turbines up to 125m (410 ft) high on Matlock Moor.
But the Planning Inspector ruled the planned turbines would "create a major adverse change" to the local landscape and wildlife.
Both North East Derbyshire District Council and the Derbyshire Dales District Council opposed the plans.
Some residents had objected to the turbines, three of which were proposed within north-east Derbyshire and two within Derbyshire Dales.
Opponents argued they would be unsightly and noisy.
'Environmental benefits'
Planning Inspector Ruth MacKenzie, said: "From certain viewpoints, I consider that the five turbines would create a major adverse change in a highly sensitive landscape.
"In reaching this decision, I have taken into account all other matters raised, but none is sufficient to outweigh the considerations that have led me to my conclusion that both appeals should be dismissed and planning permission refused."
West Coast Energy said it was disappointed with the decision.
In a statement, the company said: "This development would have provided significant environmental and economic benefits and would have made a major contribution to renewable energy generation in Derbyshire and the East Midlands.
"We are still of the opinion that Matlock Moor is an appropriate location for renewable energy generation and we will be examining the decision of the inspector in order to review our future options."
Matlock Moor wind farm plan rejected
The planned turbines would have been up to 125m (410ft) high
Plans to build a wind farm in Derbyshire have been rejected following a public inquiry into the scheme.
West Coast Energy wanted to build five wind turbines up to 125m (410 ft) high on Matlock Moor.
But the Planning Inspector ruled the planned turbines would "create a major adverse change" to the local landscape and wildlife.
Both North East Derbyshire District Council and the Derbyshire Dales District Council opposed the plans.
Some residents had objected to the turbines, three of which were proposed within north-east Derbyshire and two within Derbyshire Dales.
Opponents argued they would be unsightly and noisy.
'Environmental benefits'
Planning Inspector Ruth MacKenzie, said: "From certain viewpoints, I consider that the five turbines would create a major adverse change in a highly sensitive landscape.
"In reaching this decision, I have taken into account all other matters raised, but none is sufficient to outweigh the considerations that have led me to my conclusion that both appeals should be dismissed and planning permission refused."
West Coast Energy said it was disappointed with the decision.
In a statement, the company said: "This development would have provided significant environmental and economic benefits and would have made a major contribution to renewable energy generation in Derbyshire and the East Midlands.
"We are still of the opinion that Matlock Moor is an appropriate location for renewable energy generation and we will be examining the decision of the inspector in order to review our future options."
Labels:
wind turbines BBC Matlock Moor
Washington Post Opinion
By Robert Bryce
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Americans are being inundated with claims about renewable and alternative energy. Advocates for these technologies say that if we jettison fossil fuels, we'll breathe easier, stop global warming and revolutionize our economy. Yes, "green" energy has great emotional and political appeal. But before we wrap all our hopes -- and subsidies -- in it, let's take a hard look at some common misconceptions about what "green" means.
This Story
Myths about green energy
Sparking an energy revolution
1. Solar and wind power are the greenest of them all.
Unfortunately, solar and wind technologies require huge amounts of land to deliver relatively small amounts of energy, disrupting natural habitats. Even an aging natural gas well producing 60,000 cubic feet per day generates more than 20 times the watts per square meter of a wind turbine. A nuclear power plant cranks out about 56 watts per square meter, eight times as much as is derived from solar photovoltaic installations. The real estate that wind and solar energy demand led the Nature Conservancy to issue a report last year critical of "energy sprawl," including tens of thousands of miles of high-voltage transmission lines needed to carry electricity from wind and solar installations to distant cities.
Nor does wind energy substantially reduce CO2 emissions. Since the wind doesn't always blow, utilities must use gas- or coal-fired generators to offset wind's unreliability. The result is minimal -- or no -- carbon dioxide reduction.
Denmark, the poster child for wind energy boosters, more than doubled its production of wind energy between 1999 and 2007. Yet data from Energinet.dk, the operator of Denmark's natural gas and electricity grids, show that carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation in 2007 were at about the same level as they were back in 1990, before the country began its frenzied construction of turbines. Denmark has done a good job of keeping its overall carbon dioxide emissions flat, but that is in large part because of near-zero population growth and exorbitant energy taxes, not wind energy. And through 2017, the Danes foresee no decrease in carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Americans are being inundated with claims about renewable and alternative energy. Advocates for these technologies say that if we jettison fossil fuels, we'll breathe easier, stop global warming and revolutionize our economy. Yes, "green" energy has great emotional and political appeal. But before we wrap all our hopes -- and subsidies -- in it, let's take a hard look at some common misconceptions about what "green" means.
This Story
Myths about green energy
Sparking an energy revolution
1. Solar and wind power are the greenest of them all.
Unfortunately, solar and wind technologies require huge amounts of land to deliver relatively small amounts of energy, disrupting natural habitats. Even an aging natural gas well producing 60,000 cubic feet per day generates more than 20 times the watts per square meter of a wind turbine. A nuclear power plant cranks out about 56 watts per square meter, eight times as much as is derived from solar photovoltaic installations. The real estate that wind and solar energy demand led the Nature Conservancy to issue a report last year critical of "energy sprawl," including tens of thousands of miles of high-voltage transmission lines needed to carry electricity from wind and solar installations to distant cities.
Nor does wind energy substantially reduce CO2 emissions. Since the wind doesn't always blow, utilities must use gas- or coal-fired generators to offset wind's unreliability. The result is minimal -- or no -- carbon dioxide reduction.
Denmark, the poster child for wind energy boosters, more than doubled its production of wind energy between 1999 and 2007. Yet data from Energinet.dk, the operator of Denmark's natural gas and electricity grids, show that carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation in 2007 were at about the same level as they were back in 1990, before the country began its frenzied construction of turbines. Denmark has done a good job of keeping its overall carbon dioxide emissions flat, but that is in large part because of near-zero population growth and exorbitant energy taxes, not wind energy. And through 2017, the Danes foresee no decrease in carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation.
Labels:
wind turbines
A Whale's Tail of Good News
Right whales off Block Island largest pod ever counted there
By Judy Benson
Publication: The Day
Published 04/24/2010 12:00 AMUpdated 04/24/2010 12:57 AM NOAAThis photo from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's Northeast Fisheries Science Center shows a mother North Atlantic right whale with her calf, submerged left, in Block Island Sound off the coast of Rhode Island, part of a record number of the rare mammals counted during an aerial survey. NOAAThis photo from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's Northeast Fisheries Science Center shows a mother North Atlantic right whale with her calf, submerged left, in Block Island Sound off the coast of Rhode Island, part of a record number of the rare mammals counted during an aerial survey.
1
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COMMENTS ( 1 )
NOAA records about 100 animals, says gathering in waters leading to Martha's Vineyard highly unusual
One quarter of the world's entire population of right whales is congregating in waters between Block Island and Martha's Vineyard.
That's an unusually large grouping in an area rarely visited by these endangered mammals.
Among the group of about 100 whales are at least two mothers with calves, David Gouveia, marine mammal program coordinator for the northeastern regional office of the National Marine Fisheries Service, said Friday. There are only about 400 right whales left in the world, he noted, and they normally travel in pods of about 15 to 40 each.
This is the largest group of whales ever recorded in these waters, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the parent agency of the marine fisheries service.
The whales are heading north on their annual spring migration, but they normally stay in waters further to the east, off Nantucket and Cape Cod, Gouveia said. There are no predictions about how long they will stay in the Block Island-Martha's Vineyard area.
"It could be a week, it could be a day," Gouveia said.
To protect the whales from being struck by passing vessels, a slow-speed zone has been established in the area through May 5. Vessels 65 feet and larger are asked to travel at no more than 10 knots, or about 11.5 mph, in the waters in a defined region between the two islands.
"They're close to one of the major shipping lanes into New York City," Gouveia said of the whales.
So-called ship strikes are a major cause of injury and mortality for right whales, which can measure 55 feet in length and weigh 70 tons. In 2008, NOAA established a system of notifying mariners where right whales are traveling and setting temporary speed restrictions in those areas, as well as seasonal speed restrictions along their typical migration path. NOAA, the Coast Guard and other groups are doing aerial monitoring to keep track of whales.
The whales are migrating north along the East Coast after calving in waters off Georgia this winter. They follow currents carrying the tiny marine zooplankton called copepods, feeding as they travel, Gouveia said.
"The currents must have dipped into that area" between Block Island and Martha's Vineyard, he said. "That's why the whales are there."
After they leave the area, they will continue north, stopping to feed along the way, until they reach the Bay of Fundy off Nova Scotia in the fall.
j.benson@theday.com
By Judy Benson
Publication: The Day
Published 04/24/2010 12:00 AMUpdated 04/24/2010 12:57 AM NOAAThis photo from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's Northeast Fisheries Science Center shows a mother North Atlantic right whale with her calf, submerged left, in Block Island Sound off the coast of Rhode Island, part of a record number of the rare mammals counted during an aerial survey. NOAAThis photo from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's Northeast Fisheries Science Center shows a mother North Atlantic right whale with her calf, submerged left, in Block Island Sound off the coast of Rhode Island, part of a record number of the rare mammals counted during an aerial survey.
1
1
COMMENTS ( 1 )
NOAA records about 100 animals, says gathering in waters leading to Martha's Vineyard highly unusual
One quarter of the world's entire population of right whales is congregating in waters between Block Island and Martha's Vineyard.
That's an unusually large grouping in an area rarely visited by these endangered mammals.
Among the group of about 100 whales are at least two mothers with calves, David Gouveia, marine mammal program coordinator for the northeastern regional office of the National Marine Fisheries Service, said Friday. There are only about 400 right whales left in the world, he noted, and they normally travel in pods of about 15 to 40 each.
This is the largest group of whales ever recorded in these waters, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the parent agency of the marine fisheries service.
The whales are heading north on their annual spring migration, but they normally stay in waters further to the east, off Nantucket and Cape Cod, Gouveia said. There are no predictions about how long they will stay in the Block Island-Martha's Vineyard area.
"It could be a week, it could be a day," Gouveia said.
To protect the whales from being struck by passing vessels, a slow-speed zone has been established in the area through May 5. Vessels 65 feet and larger are asked to travel at no more than 10 knots, or about 11.5 mph, in the waters in a defined region between the two islands.
"They're close to one of the major shipping lanes into New York City," Gouveia said of the whales.
So-called ship strikes are a major cause of injury and mortality for right whales, which can measure 55 feet in length and weigh 70 tons. In 2008, NOAA established a system of notifying mariners where right whales are traveling and setting temporary speed restrictions in those areas, as well as seasonal speed restrictions along their typical migration path. NOAA, the Coast Guard and other groups are doing aerial monitoring to keep track of whales.
The whales are migrating north along the East Coast after calving in waters off Georgia this winter. They follow currents carrying the tiny marine zooplankton called copepods, feeding as they travel, Gouveia said.
"The currents must have dipped into that area" between Block Island and Martha's Vineyard, he said. "That's why the whales are there."
After they leave the area, they will continue north, stopping to feed along the way, until they reach the Bay of Fundy off Nova Scotia in the fall.
j.benson@theday.com
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