NECWA News Blog

This October, Brian Chmielecki (NECWA affiliate)  attended the 22 nd  Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals held in Halifax, Nova Scotia to share his collaborative research entitled “Fin Whale ( Balaenoptera physalus ) Foraging and Distribution in Shallow Waters South of New England.” This conference was sponsored by the Society for Marine Mammalogy. Brian explaining some of the data during the conference.  Brian’s poster presentation interpreted 30 years of data documenting fin whale locations, behavior, and foraging ecology for the inshore region bordered by Long Island, NY and Block Island, RI. Data were obtained using standardized sighting techniques and  GPS technologies across 26 field seasons, logging in more than 380 whale watches. Additional sighting information was also included and came from collaborative efforts with other researchers working in the same area.   Results showed that spring through summer finback feeding aggregates utilize different f

River herring live in the North Atlantic during the year and enter coastal fresh water rivers to spawn each spring.   The adults lay eggs in headwater ponds and in the rivers, then return to the ocean.   The eggs hatch within a few weeks and the young fry live in the breeding waters for a few months.   Then they make their way to the ocean where they will live for three or four years before making their own first spawning run. The Taunton River/Nemasket River herring run the largest herring run and spawning area in Massachusetts.   Our river herring enter through Narragansett Bay, swim up the Taunton and Nemasket Rivers, and spawn in the pristine 5000 acre Assawompset Pond Complex.   The Nemasket River traditionally hosts a run of approximately half a million fish in recent years.   Herring have been part of Middleborough and Lakeville history since primitive times and played an important role in the area economics, agriculture, sport fishing and commercial fishing.