Researchers aboard a small, four-seat aeroplane, were amazed recently by the sheer abundance and diversity of marine wildlife in their aerial survey of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument – the only marine national monument on the East Coast, about 150 miles south-east of Cape Cod.
More than 600 animals were sighted in just four hours, including over 200 common dolphins, hundreds of Risso’s dolphins (a firm favourite here at Marine Connection), some rarely-seen beaked whales and dozens of bottlenose dolphins. All of the dolphin groups included many calves and juveniles, reinforcing observations that the monument is a nursery area for several species.
This was the fourth in a series of aerial surveys of the monument that began in summer 2017, and the number of sightings by the scientists during this survey was higher than any other, nearly double the number of animals observed, Autumn 2017.
