Federal and state funding will provide support for a contract for surveillance research and monitoring of North Atlantic right whales and for entanglement response for all large whale species and sea turtles. This includes aerial and focused shipboard ecosystem surveys of right whales from late fall through the spring in Cape Cod Bay and adjacent waters. The disentanglement project will contribute to ongoing conservation efforts and entanglement readiness and response for whales from New Hampshire to Rhode Island, and sea turtles off Massachusetts. Goals: 1. Conduct aerial surveillance flights from late fall 2025 through spring 2026 to document individual right whale residency and distribution in Cape Cod Bay and adjacent areas. 2. Collect information documenting changes in the Cape Cod Bay ecosystem, including changes in zooplankton characteristics, productivity, and seasonality. 3. Maintain an entanglement response readiness with trained entanglement responders to respond to reports of live and dead entangled large whales and sea turtles.
