Dead Right Whale approximately 78 miles east of Nantucket BOSTON – The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Escanaba worked with NOAA officials to document a dead right whale 78 miles east of Nantucket, Mass., today. The cutter Escanaba, homeported in Boston, received a call from a NOAA surveillance plane reporting the dead right whale. Escanaba was only 15 miles from the whale and was on scene within an hour. The whale was about 45-feet long and confirmed to be a female right whale. As requested by NOAA officials, Escanaba crewmembers obtained a sample of the whale for DNA testing. In addition, boat crew members from Escanaba placed a self-locating data marker buoy on the whale to further track its movements. “Hopefully the DNA test will prove that the female whale was not actively reproducing,†said Seaman Paul Miliken, a former resident of Eastham, Mass., and former first mate on a whale-watching boat from Provincetown, Mass. Escanaba continues to patrol off the coast of New England. Dead Right Whale approximately 78 miles east of Nantucket BOSTON – The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Escanaba worked with NOAA officials to document a dead right whale 78 miles east of Nantucket, Mass., today. The cutter Escanaba, homeported in Boston, received a call from a NOAA surveillance plane reporting the dead right whale. Escanaba was only 15 miles from the whale and was on scene within an hour. The whale was about 45-feet long and confirmed to be a female right whale. As requested by NOAA officials, Escanaba crewmembers obtained a sample of the whale for DNA testing. In addition, boat crew members from Escanaba placed a self-locating data marker buoy on the whale to further track its movements. “Hopefully the DNA test will prove that the female whale was not actively reproducing,†said Seaman Paul Miliken, a former resident of Eastham, Mass., and former first mate on a whale-watching boat from Provincetown, Mass. Escanaba continues to patrol off the coast of New England.
