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Scientists were excited to confirm the sighting of a gray whale in the Atlantic Ocean 200 years after its purported regional extinction. The caveat, is that the impacts of climate change are likely responsible.
An exciting biological discovery has arrived with an unwanted side of existential concern.
Scientists have confirmed the presence of a gray whale off the coast of New England. For 200 years the species was thought to be regionally extinct from the Atlantic Ocean, but the fifth observation in 15 years has busted that myth.
The whale, which can weigh up to 60,000 pounds, all but vanished from the Atlantic by the 18th century, so researchers were sceptical when they initially sighted the creature off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts on March 1st.
Following the whale for 45 minutes, several photographs were able to confirm the historic encounter through the speciesโ distinctive speckled baleen and absence of any dorsal fin.
โI didnโt want to say out loud what it was, because it seemed crazy,โ revealed Orla OโBrien, a researcher with the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium.
The whales were hunted to the brink of extinction during the era of commercial whaling, but have since recovered in such numbers as to be considered a species of โleast concernโ by conservation bodies.
The population of gray whale in Asia remains endangered, however, as several surrounding nations continue to reject ban proposals.
