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The article focuses on the system that can produce useful estimates of right whale Eubalaena glacialis presence and abundance on their feeding grounds in the Gulf of Maine. The study aims to examine the potential for using a physical-biological model of Calanus finmarchicus population dynamics and to balance human use of marine environment with the protection of living marine resources. Researchers can estimate when whales will appear in the Great South Channel feeding ground from the modeled prey densities. Real-time information on copepod distribution could be useful for right whale management as suggested in the correlation between right whale arrival date in the Channel and the first generation modeled Calanus abundance estimates.

The North Atlantic right whale, Eubalaena glacialis (Müller, 1776), is one of the world's most endangered large cetaceans. It is widely believed that Basque whalers caused the most dramatic decline of this species in the western North Atlantic during the early-16th and 17th centuries. Previous osteological analysis of 17 historic bones suggested that 50% of the Basque harvest consisted of right whales and 50% of bowhead whales, Balaena mysticetus L., 1758. This 50:50 ratio has been used to estimate pre-exploitation population size, which has subsequently formed the basis of recovery goals and plans for the North Atlantic right whale. Genetic analysis of 21 bones, 13 identified as right whales and 8 as bowhead whales through osteological examination, indicates that in fact only 1 bone was a right whale and 20 were bowhead whales. Additionally, preliminary microsatellite analyses of this specimen are not consistent with the hypothesis that whaling resulted in the low genetic variation found in this species today. These results differ from what would be expected based on any previous view of Basque whaling, and raise questions regarding the impact of Basque whaling on this species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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