A whale-watch of vital significance

Crew studies leviathans to learn about their habits, habitat

OFF THE COAST OF PROVINCETOWN — Charles “Stormy’’ Mayo descends from a long line of men who have made their living on the sea, but with one big difference. His forebears sometimes hunted the whales that appear off the shores of Cape Cod each spring. He is trying to save them.

Mayo leads a small crew of scientists who are studying the North Atlantic right whale to learn more about the habitat and habits of one of the most endangered animal species on the planet, to better understand and protect the rare leviathans. And here on the research vessel Shearwater, about 5 miles southwest of Herring Cove Beach in Provincetown, is one of the best places in the world to do it.

Some 25 to 40 of the great marine mammals, which can grow 55 feet long and weigh more than 70 tons, have come here to feed, and yesterday the tiny animals that draw them to these waters were teeming on the surface in billowing pink clouds. About a dozen of the giants glided just feet from the Shearwater’s busy deck, skimming zooplankton from the water with the great baleen filters that line their mouths instead of teeth

Read more at http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/articles/2010/04/13/a_whale_watch_of_vital_significance/

Article courtesy of The Boston Globe By David Filipov Globe Staff