Research Document 2025/009

Interim Summary of North Atlantic Right and Blue Whale Calls Detected Recently in Newfoundland and Labrador

By Lawson, J.W., Sheppard, G.L., Morrissey, K., and Healey, V.

Abstract

With the recent increase of North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis; NARW) in Canadian waters, and the mortalities some have suffered here, there has been increased effort to detect and monitor the location of these whales, and ascertain how their habitat use patterns have changed. At the same time, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is continuing research efforts with other Species at Risk Act (SARA)-listed species, such as blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus; BW). Automated detection and classification (DCS) of the vocalizations of NARW and BW is an essential tool to process the large volume of acoustic recording data gathered by the DFO to monitor these calling whales.

DFO Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) Region recently implemented Baumgartner’s Low Frequency Detection and Classification System (LFDCS) to perform automated detection and classification of baleen whales on acoustic data we have been collecting since 2010. In this study we used LFDCS to detect NARW and BW, and JASCO’s PamLab DCS to search for BW calls. LFDCS performed well with NARW and BW call detection, but generated many false NARW positives within the context of smeared seismic airgun sounds or pervasive calling humpback whales. For BW, LFDCS performed better relative to NARW in the number of calls detected, but suffered more false negatives than for the NARW detection task.

Although confounded by effects of high ambient noise, few moorings over the large study area, and similar humpback whale calls, possible and confirmed NARW upcalls and gunshots were detected occasionally on the Newfoundland south coast and in Placentia Bay. In addition, DFO NL’s sightings database contains 18 records (29 whales) for NARW between 1932 and 2019, with 13 since 2001. Male NARW “Mogul” was observed feeding nearshore in 12 m of water on the NL north coast in September 2019, after being sighted off western France earlier in July 2019, and Iceland in the summer of 2018.

The confirmed and possible acoustic detections of NARW around Newfoundland and Labrador since at least 2015, and the rare but repeated visual sightings of this species in the region, corroborates that NARW are a component of the marine megafauna here – particularly in Placentia Bay.

BW are also sighted infrequently, but across many parts of the Newfoundland and Labrador shelves in nearshore and offshore locations. In particular, BW calls were detected on the south coast (although not in Placentia Bay), and offshore in the northern Flemish Pass.

Research Document 2025/009 (PDF, 1,408 KB)

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