A rare Gray whale was recently seen in the Atlantic Ocean, where they were thought to have died out.
People have thought that this type of whale was extinct in the Atlantic Ocean for more than 200 years. They usually only live in the Pacific Ocean. But a Gray whale was seen in the Atlantic Ocean close off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, by the New England Aquarium’s Air Survey Team.
“This whale somehow crossed from Alaska, through the Arctic, into the Atlantic Ocean,” Orla O’Brien and others who saw the whale said with wonder.
She went on, “I didn’t want to say out loud what it was because it seemed crazy.”
Gray whales don’t have a dorsal fin, but they do have a dorsal hump with sharp ridges. Their backs are covered with white and gray spots. Researchers Kate Laemmle and I both saw the whale. Kate said, “We were laughing because it was so crazy and exciting to see an animal that went extinct in the Atlantic hundreds of years ago!”
Five times in the last fifteen years, these Gray whales have been seen moving in the Mediterranean and Atlantic. Usually, they don’t go to the Atlantic. The Gray whales are thought to be moving because of global warming and higher temperatures.
There is a lot less ice because the Earth is warming up. This may allow these whales to go to places they never could before. Based on what O’Brien says, the whales show how global warming can have an impact on animal life.
She also said, “These sightings of gray whales in the Atlantic show how quickly marine life can adapt to climate change if they get the chance.”
