Rare gray whale re-emerges in Atlantic waters after 200-year extinction

A gray whale, which has been considered extinct in the Atlantic Ocean for over 200 years, recently reappeared off the coast of Massachusetts’ Nantucket Island in an incredibly rare event, ABC News reported.

The New England Aquarium aerial survey team announced last week’s rare sighting in a recent press release while noting that gray whales are “predominately seen” in the North Pacific Ocean and disappeared from the Atlantic by the 18th century.

“This whale somehow crossed from Alaska, through the Arctic, into the Atlantic Ocean,” Orla O’Brien, an associate research scientist who spotted the gray whale said while discussing the creature’s journey through the Northwest Passage.

Initially, the team of researchers was not sure if they had indeed spotted a gray whale.

The absence of a dorsal fin, speckled gray and white skin and prominently ridged dorsal hump in gray whales set them apart from other species.

According to the release, the aerial survey plane circled the area for 45 minutes to capture the whale as it repeatedly dove and resurfaced, appearing to be feeding.

Despite extinction from Atlantic waters, aquarium researchers revealed that five gray whale sightings have been reported in Atlantic and Mediterranean waters over the past 15 years.

Previously in December last year, a gray whale was spotted off the coast of Florida and aquarium researchers suspect it to be the same whale spotted in Nantucket.

Researchers speculate that rising global temperatures may have impacted the whale’s journey via the Northwest Passage as there is less sea ice in the summer.

“The extent of the sea ice typically limits the species range of gray whales,” researchers explained. “Now, gray whales can potentially travel the Passage in the summer, something that wouldn’t have been possible in the previous century.”

O’Brien claims that the most recent gray whale sighting is noteworthy within a broader discussion concerning the potential effects of rising global temperatures on marine life.