Whale Previously Extinct In Atlantic Ocean Seen Off MA Coast

MASSACHUSETTS — Scientists with the New England Aquarium couldn't believe what they were seeing earlier this month.

Aquarium scientists were flying 30 miles south of Nantucket on March 1 when they sighted an unusual whale. After 45 minutes of circling the area for additional photos, researchers determined that the sighting was a true oddity: A gray whale.

“I didn’t want to say out loud what it was, because it seemed crazy,” said Orla O’Brien, associate research scientist in the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium, who has been flying aerial surveys since 2011.

While the whale was on a dive, O’Brien showed the photos to Research Technician Kate Laemmle, who was also in the plane.

“My brain was trying to process what I was seeing, because this animal was something that should not really exist in these waters,” said Laemmle. “We were laughing because of how wild and exciting this was—to see an animal that disappeared from the Atlantic hundreds of years ago.”

In a news release, scientists explained that gray whales are regularly found in the North Pacific Ocean and are easily distinguished from other whale species by their lack of a dorsal fin, mottled grey and white skin, and dorsal hump followed by pronounced ridges.

But scientists were surprised because the species disappeared from the Atlantic Ocean by the 18th century.

In the last 15 years, however, there have been five observations of gray whales in Atlantic and Mediterranean waters, including off the coast of Florida in December 2023. Aquarium scientists believe the gray whale seen off New England this month is the same whale sighted in Florida late last year.

What's the reason for these increased sightings? Scientists say it's probably climate change.

The Northwest Passage, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific through the Arctic Ocean in Canada, has regularly been ice-free in the summertime in recent years, partly due to rising global temperatures, scientists said.

The extent of the sea ice typically limits the species range of gray whales, experts say, as the whales cannot break through the thick winter ice that usually blocks the Passage. Now, gray whales can potentially travel the Passage in the summer, something that wouldn’t have been possible in the previous century, scientists noted.

“This sighting highlights how important each survey is. While we expect to see humpback, right, and fin whales, the ocean is a dynamic ecosystem, and you never know what you’ll find,” O’Brien said. “These sightings of gray whales in the Atlantic serve as a reminder of how quickly marine species respond to climate change, given the chance.”