Dr. Kimberley Davies (PhD (Oceanography)’12) has made an interesting discovery about right whales that may help guide better protection of the endangered species. There are only 522 North Atlantic right whales left on Earth, and the species needs habitats where it can consistently reproduce at a healthy rate in order to recover.

The key to steady reproduction, Dr. Davies explains, is a good food supply. Unfortunately, her research demonstrates that the right whales have been leaving their protected feeding habitats in the Roseway and Grand Manan basins, off of the Scotian shelf. She believes the whales are leaving these basins, protected through a ban on vessel traffic, in order to find more concentrated sources of food.

These changes mean that the whales’ new habitats will need to be identified and protected if the species is to stay safe of vessels and fishing gear. This summer, Dr. Davies is working with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachussetts to determine such habitats. She hopes these discoveries will enable the protection of future generations of right whales.

Dr. Davies completed her PhD at Dalhousie in 2012 and is now a post-doctoral fellow at Dal. She recently published two studies on right whales, along with a team of researchers funded largely by the Marine Environmental Observation Prediction and Response Network (MEOPAR).

Read more in “Right whales may abandon protected feeding habitats in search of food” on dal.ca.