Cetacean firsts for the Bay of Fundy in 2012

With increasing water temperatures it is expected that species not usually seem in colder waters such as the Bay of Fundy, may be found, as the temperatures rise.  This has certainly been the case for ocean sunfish, Mola mola, and leatherback turtles, Dermochelys coriacea, with increased sightings the last few years.  To find an Arctic species may be less likely, however, in August 2012 a bowhead or Greenland right whale, Balaena mysticetus, was seen several times in the Bay of Fundy, the first by the New England Aquarium in the Grand Manan Basin, then by whale watchers off Nova Scotia, then possibly from the wharf in Hall Harbour (photos were not conclusive), and lastly off Grand Manan Island.  This is the first known sighting of a bowhead whale in the Bay of Fundy.  There may have been bowhead whales ranging much further south during and after the last ice age, but their exact range during that time is not known.

Bowhead whale photographed by Christine Callaghan off the coast of Nova Scotia.

The bowhead whale was quite elusive which would be expected from a whale that spends most of its time in relatively vessel free waters of the Arctic Ocean and not habituated to constant engine noise.  These whales are also hunted along the shores of Greenland and occasionally Baffin Island by Inuit as part of their traditional hunts, possibly increasing their aversion to vessels.  Having spent time studying bowhead whales in the Arctic in the middle 1980s, it was still thrilling to see this very lost whale.  Ironically, there was a sighting of right whales off Northern Newfoundland this summer - possibly a part of a whale exchange program :-)!

Photograph taken by Sarah McDonald December 25 that spurred the recovery of the dolphin from White Head Island.



Male, striped dolphin collected from White Head Island on December 26, 2012.

The second new cetacean species for the Bay of Fundy was a striped dolphin, Stenella coeruleoabla, unfortunately found dead on White Head Island, a small island off Grand Manan Island.  All of the circumstances of the stranding are not known at this time.  The male dolphin was collected December 26, after being on the shore for a few days.  The cold temperatures prevented deterioration, with only a small amount of scavenging.  The dolphin has been stored in the freezer of a local fish plant until a detailed necropsy can be performed in the future. Many thanks to the White Head Island fishermen who helped lift the dolphin onto the trailer and to the fish plant for storing it. 

Striped dolphin shrink wrapped for storage at a local fish plant until a detailed necropsy can be performed.

Striped dolphin wrapped for storage in freezer.

Short video on how to shrink wrap a dolphin.

Striped dolphins are more usually seen in warmer waters to the south but have been seen off the Scotian Shelf, Gulf of St. Lawrence and even Newfoundland, but no known records exist for the Bay of Fundy.

The Bay of Fundy never ceases to surprise.

Mola mola (Ocean Sunfish)



Ocean sunfish or mola mola lying on its side, just under the
surface.  The head it toward the top right corner. 



Ocean Sunfish or mola mola are the largest bony fish reaching up to 3.3m (11 feet) and the heaviest over 2300 kg (5000 lbs).  They are disc shaped with two large fins, the dorsal and anal fins which they use to propel themselves through the water.  They are flattened vertically.  Their tail is a long, wavy structure.  They feed on jellies, comb jellies and other plankton.  They come to the surface and often lay on their sides giving them their name, ocean sunfish.  The French name is actually moon fish, poisson lune.  The surface behaviour has been suggested as a method to warm their bodies after spending time as deep as 600m.  Frequently those observed in the Bay of Fundy have their mouths open so perhaps they are also feeding close to the surface.  Most years we see only the occasional ocean sunfish but in the last two summers, multiple sunfish have been seen some days.  The ocean sunfish this year also seem much larger than the ones seen in other years.  Why have the numbers increased in recent years?  It is unknown but some years warm-core eddies break off from the Gulf Stream and get swept into the Gulf of Maine and Bay of Fundy carrying with it species that are usually seen in warmer waters.  This could be the case or other forces were in play bringing these huge fish into the Bay.



Ocean sunfish or mola mola lying on its side at the surface.
Its mouth is open.  These fish feed on jellies.

They are slow moving but can manoeuvre out of the way of oncoming vessels if the vessels aren't travelling quickly but are at risk when they are at or just below the surface since they are difficult to spot until nearly on top of them. They can also breach or leap out of the water. Inshore, however, their ability to navigate leaves much to be desired. 

On the evening of September 10, two friends of the GMWSRS out for a drive had stopped at the fishermen's wharf and found a stranded ocean sunfish.  It was up against the wharf and was bumping into boats, piers and the shoreline.  They tracked us down and we rallied a few people to help, some of whom had never seen an ocean sunfish.  We tried to herd it out from between the floating wharf and the fishermen's wharf using a small inflatable and oars but to no avail.  The sunfish would not go back under or between boats or piers.  It was difficult to judge how heavy this sunfish was but it was at least 2 m across, not including the fins, the same size as the inflatable. We were quite concerned because the tide was beginning to recede and we didn't want the fish to completely strand. 

Finally we decided to grab the sunfish by its dorsal fin when it was up against the shore and try to tow it out.  A friend, who is also a whale watch captain, and the fellow who spotted the sunfish got into a much larger, motorized inflatable and were able to get the sunfish away from between the wharf and the floating wharf but lost their grip before they could get it around the end of the wharf. The fish blundered into a row of boats tied to the wharf before they could grab it again.  It was amazing to watch the sunfish try to swim away from them, jetting water out through its gills as a type of jet propulsion to increase its speed.

Pectoral fin of an ocean sunfish as it lays at the surface.

The second time they got the fish to the end of the wharf but they again lost their grip and the fish got away, this time heading off through the boat moorings but away from the wharf.  It was not seen again and, hopefully, headed out to deeper water with fewer obstacles.  The rescuers did not go unscathed because sunfish skin is like sandpaper, cover by a mucus layer, and they had several scrapes on their hands and arms.  Gloves would definitely be in order next time.

Here are some other articles about stranded sunfish this summer, the outcomes deadly for the sunfish, despite valiant efforts:

http://www.digbycourier.ca/News/2011-08-03/article-2690151/Two-sunfish-photographed-in-basin-before-stranding/1

http://www.souwester.ca/News/2011-08-03/article-2688691/Sunfish-stranded-on-mudflats-of-Moose-River/1