Press Release: 9/16/2025

Follow the food: New research could better predict where North Atlantic right whales feed and gather

 

Applying more detailed information on right whale prey may aid conservation effort

Right whales “Arpeggio” (Catalog #2753) and unnamed Catalog #4617 pass by each other while feeding in the Great South Channel off Cape Cod in February 2024. CREDIT: NEW ENGLAND AQUARIUM, NMFS PERMIT #25739

BOSTON, MASS. (Sept. 16, 2025) – New joint research led by the New England Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life, Bigelow Laboratory, and the University of Maine could help scientists more effectively predict where North Atlantic right whales spend their time throughout the year and lead to better protections for this critically endangered species.

**PHOTOS AVAILABLE HERE – PLEASE SEE CREDIT INFORMATION IN FOLDER**

Despite being one of the largest animals on earth, the North Atlantic right whale’s small population of about 370 individuals and vast territory makes tracking these animals challenging. To better understand their movements and improve predictions of where right whales congregate at different times of year, researchers set out to incorporate data on the abundance of the whales’ favorite zooplankton prey species and consider their actual daily energy needs. Their findings were recently published in the journal Endangered Species Research.

“This work is exciting because it confirms that prey are a powerful tool in accurately predicting where right whales spend their time,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Camille Ross, an associate research scientist at the Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center and former research associate at Bigelow Laboratory. “The research also highlights the importance of smaller prey species in the right whale diet, which has historically been less clear.”

Given the challenges of tracking right whales, scientists use environmental data to predict the occurrence and abundance of these animals at a given time of year, a method known as species distribution modeling. For right whales, most of these models incorporate information on the amount of tiny zooplankton they feed on, mainly the copepod Calanus finmarchicus—their “favorite food.” Scientists previously used phytoplankton production data observed from satellites as an indirect measure of the copepods, as phytoplankton are what copepods eat. But these satellite observations offer limited insight into the true abundance of the zooplankton, or if species preferred by right whales are present. Dr. Ross and her colleagues set out to develop a new modeling approach that utilized both historical observations of Calanus finmarchicus and two smaller zooplankton species.

Using more nuanced and detailed information on prey species from NOAA and trialing different combinations of variables in their models, the scientists were able to significantly improve how well the models matched actual observations of right whale movements. Predicted density of right whales was most prominent in the deep basins of the Gulf of Maine and the Great South Channel, southeast of Cape Cod. Density generally increased in the summer and decreased in the winter, consistent with the current understanding of right whale foraging timing and migration.

“You can’t protect whales if you don’t know where they are—and they go where the food is,” said Dr. Damian Brady, a professor of oceanography at the University of Maine’s Darling Marine Center and a coauthor on the new paper. “This study helps us map that more precisely than ever before.”

North Atlantic right whales, one of the most endangered large whale species in the world, travel hundreds of miles while searching for copepods to eat in large volumes. Warming waters in the northern Atlantic Ocean have led to shifts in right whale habitat use, with the animals adjusting where they feed off the northeast U.S. and Canada—making them vulnerable to fishing gear entanglements and vessel strikes in areas without protections. Improving predictive tools with more direct, accurate information on prey will give scientists and managers a more holistic view of right whales’ habitat and how they’re using it. That’s essential for proactive efforts to protect these animals, Dr. Ross said, as ocean conditions change and right whales follow their food source.

“As we learn more about the role of smaller prey in right whales’ diet, I am hopeful that it will become easier to predict patterns in where these critically endangered whales spend their time, ultimately benefitting conservation efforts,” Dr. Ross said. “With roughly 370 right whales remaining, every single whale is important to the future of the species.”

This collaborative study brought together experts on modeling, right whale physiology, and zooplankton ecology from Bigelow Laboratory, the University of Maine’s Darling Marine Center, the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium, Duke University, and the NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center.

 

MEDIA CONTACT: Pam Bechtold Snyder—617-686-5068; psnyder@neaq.org