(VitalNews.org) – A rare Gray whale was recently spotted in the Atlantic Ocean after being deemed extinct from that area.
For over 200 years, this species of whale has been considered extinct from the area of the Atlantic Ocean, and are typically only found in the Pacific Ocean. However, a Gray whale was spotted in the Atlantic waters right off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts by the aerial survey team of the New England Aquarium
Those who saw the whale such as Orla O’Brien remarked their surprise, saying, “This whale somehow crossed from Alaska, through the Arctic, into the Atlantic Ocean,”
“I didn’t want to say out loud what it was, because it seemed crazy,” she continued.
Gray whales have a white and gray spotted back, they do not have a dorsal fin but they have a dorsal hump with prominent ridges. Kate Laemmle, a research technician who saw the whale as well said “We were laughing because of how wild and exciting this was to see an animal that disappeared from the Atlantic hundreds of years ago!”
In the past fifteen years, five instances have been recorded of these Gray whales swimming in the Mediterranean and Atlantic, though normally they are not found in Atlantic waters. Researchers believe that the Gray whales are moving due to rising temperatures and global warming.
With the warming of the planet, there is a lot less ice and this could be making way for these whales to travel to places they never could. O’Brien says that this example of the whales can prove how global warming can affect animal life.
She also said, “These sightings of gray whales in the Atlantic serve as a reminder of how quickly marine species respond to climate change, given the chance.”
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