Right Whales Return to Cape Cod Bay — 10 Sighted; Juvenile “Division” Severely Entangled Off Georgia

Like clockwork — and with what observers described as a touch of seasonal showmanship — North Atlantic right whales have begun arriving in Cape Cod Bay, turning the winter waters into the opening act of their annual cycle.

Sightings Kick Off 2025–2026 Season

Aerial surveys on Dec. 5 and 6 recorded the season’s first group: 10 critically endangered North Atlantic right whales moving through the bay’s green-gray water. Surveyors from the Right Whale Ecology Program at the Provincetown-based Center for Coastal Studies observed the animals about seven miles north of Dennis in the bay’s southeastern corner, marking the start of the 2025–2026 research season.

Many of the individuals are familiar to researchers: seven of the whales were seen in the bay last year. The Provincetown team reported that six of the animals were engaged in a “Surface Active Group”, a social behavior in which two or more whales physically interact at the surface and that can include mating activity.

Ryan Schosberg, an aerial observer and the data-and-photo manager for the center’s right whale program, said the team positively identified a 16-year-old female nicknamed Taffy (catalog #3903) accompanied by five males, including Sawtooth (#3714), Gemini (#3401), Tux (#4102) and an unnamed male recorded as #4990.

An unnamed North Atlantic right whale listed as #3640 in the right whale catalog was among 10 individuals researchers from the Center for Coastal Studies spotted in Cape Cod Bay on Dec. 5 and 6.

Entanglement Emergency: Juvenile ‘Division’

While the return of whales to Cape Cod Bay is encouraging, troubling news came from the southeastern U.S. On Dec. 3 an aerial team from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission located a severely entangled right whale off Jekyll Island, Georgia. The whale, a juvenile male named Division (catalog #5217), was born in 2022 and had been seen without gear as recently as July in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada.

NOAA Fisheries described Division’s condition as a "very complex entanglement," with multiple lines wrapped around his head and mouth, one cutting into his blowhole, and additional line trailing from his flukes. Responders were able to remove some gear on Dec. 3 and 4; further disentanglement efforts will continue as weather and sea conditions permit.

“Division’s entanglement is significant and life-threatening,” said Heather Pettis, Senior Scientist at the New England Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center. “There are multiple indicators that Division has been entangled for some time and that the entanglement has led to a worrisome decline in his overall health.”

Ongoing Threats and Conservation Actions

Entanglements and vessel strikes remain the leading causes of injury and death for North Atlantic right whales. Since 1980 scientists have documented more than 1,800 entanglement events involving over 85% of the population. Division is the 168th right whale cataloged in NOAA’s ongoing Unusual Mortality Event, which has tracked dead, seriously injured and health-compromised whales since 2017.

Conservationists emphasize that many of these injuries and deaths are preventable. Recommended measures include wider adoption of ropeless or on-demand fishing gear that eliminates vertical lines, use of weaker ropes that break under stress, and stronger vessel speed restrictions in areas where whales occur. NOAA is working with fishermen to test and deploy on-demand gear, and New England fishermen are active participants in these trials, though conservation groups say adoption is not happening quickly enough.

Researchers from the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown spotted 10 returning North Atlantic right whales in Cape Cod Bay on Dec. 5 and 6, including Taffy (#3903), Tux (#3401) and an unnamed whale listed at #4102 in the right whale catalog.

Management Measures in Cape Cod Bay

NOAA has recommended a Dynamic Management Area (an advisory zone) in Cape Cod Bay and southeast of Nantucket following the Provincetown sightings, asking mariners to voluntarily slow down to protect whales. Mandatory seasonal protections begin when more whales typically fill the bay: NOAA designates Cape Cod Bay as a Seasonal Management Area during which vessels 65 feet and up must travel at 10 knots or less from Jan. 1–May 15. The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries extends the 10-knot limit to vessels of all sizes from Mar. 1–Apr. 30, with the authority to extend the season if whales remain; in 2025 that period was extended to May 15 based on Center for Coastal Studies observations.

According to the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium’s most recent assessment (October), the species now numbers only an estimated 384 individuals, with roughly 70 breeding females. Last year nearly half the population visited Cape Cod Bay between winter and late spring to feed and socialize.

Researchers from Provincetown, working with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, have monitored right whales from the air and on the water since 1998, collecting critical data on presence, distribution and behavior to inform conservation measures such as dynamic management zones and seasonal vessel speed restrictions.

Reporting and original reporting: Cape Cod Times. Reporting contributors include the Center for Coastal Studies, NOAA Fisheries, the New England Aquarium, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.