A giant, thought to be extinct for 200 years, is spotted in the Atlantic Ocean
Scientists have spotted a gray whale off the coast of New England, a rare sighting for a species that has been dying out in the Atlantic Ocean for centuries until it disappeared completely.
SSPDaily tells about it.
According to Orla O'Brien, a researcher at the aquarium who was the first to spot the whale, she and her colleagues could not believe their eyes. The whale was spotted 48 kilometers south of Nantucket, Massachusetts. The researcher managed to take a picture of the whale, and then showed the image to expert Kate Lemmle, who confirmed that it was indeed a gray whale.
Gray whales are easy to identify because of the absence of a dorsal fin and spotted gray-white skin. Representatives of this species are common in the Pacific Ocean, but in the Atlantic Ocean, this species is locally extinct - gray whales were last seen here in the 18th century.
The rise in global average temperature has resulted in the Northwest Passage, which connects the Pacific and Atlantic oceans through Arctic waters, being free of ice in summer. As a result, gray whales were able to travel between the oceans more freely than in previous centuries.
