Rare blue whale spotted off Provincetown

mermaid Thu Oct 13, 2011 7:17 am

http://www.wickedlocal.com/capecod/news/x663897262/Rare-blue-whale-spotted-off-Provincetown#axzz1aewMy3hR

Rare blue whale spotted off Provincetown.By Laurie Balliett
Cape Codder
Posted Oct 10, 2011 @ 03:52 PM
Last update Oct 11, 2011 @ 10:01 AM

CAPE COD — One of only a few blue whales seen in the past 30 years appeared off the Coast of Provincetown Friday.

While many whale species are prevalent in Cape Cod waters, blue whales are not. There could be fewer than 200 of them in the North Atlantic, and they were thought to be extinct up until a half a century ago.

“These were some of the best looks I’ve ever seen of one,” said Captain Mark Dalomba, of the Dolphin VIII, who spotted the vulnerable giant. Out of 6,500 whale watch trips that he’s driven, he has seen only four blue whales.

“We meet the whales at the boundary of their world and ours,” said Dr. Carole Carlson, world renowned whale researcher and director of the Dolphin Fleet’s Research and Education Program. Carlson, who has been studying whales for more than 30 years, said it was only the second blue whale that she has seen.

Blue whales search continuously for food, are often in deeper water, and although they’ve been spotted in oceans all over the world. On Friday, this Blue Whale was here eating plankton, its sole food source.

Blue whales grow to be over 100 feet long, and this one was about 75 to 80 feet.

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