Canadian Whale Institute

05/29/2026

The Canadian Whale Institute is pleased to share the newest edition of our newsletter, The Right Perspective! Click here to read: https://us17.campaign-archive.com/?u=0315e4dff7d47d81fd3de5228&id=7cf70fd971

Stay connected and never miss an update — subscribe using the link below! 🐳https://canadianwhaleinstitute.us17.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=0315e4dff7d47d81fd3de5228&id=a6faa96bee

We’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment below with your suggestions for future topics or stories you’d like us to cover.

In our last mailing, we described the process by which North Atlantic right whales are named. Since naming is highly reliant on distinguishing features to help researchers identify the whales in the field, some whales are never named and remain identified only by their catalog numbers.  This can b...

05/28/2026

🐋 EVENT ALERT! We are thrilled to be part of the St Croix Valley Flying Club’s 1st Annual MAYDAY Event!

Join the Campobello Whale Rescue Team for a day of community, aviation, and education.

📅 When: Saturday, May 30th
⏰ Time: 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM
📍 Where: Giddens Memorial Airport, St. Stephen, NB
☔ Rain Date: Sunday, May 31st

What to expect:
• 🚚 Tour our interactive whale rescue trailer
• 🛩️ Check out military and civilian aircraft
• 🤝 Show your support for first responders
• 🎶 Catch some live music

Bring the whole family for an incredible time. See you there! 👋

05/21/2026

Join CWI at the Halifax Discovery Centre’s Biodiversity Day - “Learn about the incredible variety of life on Earth, from microscopic bacteria to soaring hawks to diving whales and all of nature in between!”

WHEN: May 23, 2026 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
WHERE: Discovery Centre, 1215 Lower Water Street, Halifax

You’ll get to:
🧬 Explore environmental DNA and help crack a DNA puzzle
🧑‍🔬 Meet the experts from Dalhousie University’s Institute for Comparative Genomics and special guests from Acadia University
🔬Take a live look through a microscope at the world’s tiniest wonders
🐳 Talk all things whale with experts from the Canadian Whale Institute
🎉 Go on a scavenger hunt
🚀 See the new featured exhibition, Mission: Astronaut!

05/14/2026

Wondering where the right whales are? 🐋

Over the past 2 weeks, right whales have started to be detected in the Gulf of St. Lawrence!

Visit whalemap.org to learn more about the most recent confirmed visual and acoustic detections. This free and publicly available online tool helps track where some North Atlantic right whales have been spotted in near real-time through science and technology, giving us a small glimpse into their world!

Disclaimer: These detections reflect only a portion of the population that was seen or heard where surveys were conducted or hydrophones were listening.

05/10/2026

This Mother’s Day, we’re celebrating some of the most resilient moms on the planet: North Atlantic right whale mothers! 🌊🐋
This calving season brought a glimmer of hope with 23 new calves spotted, the highest number seen since 2009 (when 39 births were observed)! Right whale mothers can migrate over 1,500 km from their feeding grounds in the north to the warmer waters down south to give birth. They spend months nursing and protecting their calf, losing a massive portion of their body weight to ensure their babies grow strong enough for the journey north.
Successful years like this remind us why conservation efforts, such as reducing vessel speed and limiting fishing gear when whales are present, are so vital in protecting the mothers and vulnerable calves that represent the future of this population.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there, including the ones currently swimming through the Atlantic! 💙

05/04/2026

May the 4th be with you⭐🚀

The force is strong today and it’s guiding our sensors toward a legendary whale... Jedi ( #2541)! Jedi is a 27-year-old male North Atlantic right whale whose callosity pattern resembles a spaceship battle from Star Wars. Can you point out what is unique about this photo? His primary intake hatch (mouth) is wide open, perhaps having a snack? It is currently not well known how right whales find their food. Scientists suspect that the whales follow odors produced by natural chemical compounds – perhaps using a force of their own?

Check out this article to learn more: https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/news/mar24/smelly-gas-helps-track-right-whales.html

05/01/2026

❗️❗️❗️ We're hiring ❗️❗️❗️

We are looking for a Senior Research Assistant to join the CWI team for a seasonal position! Please see more information in the PDF on our opportunities page: www.canadianwhaleinstitute.ca/opportunities

Please note this is a seasonal position. The start date is June 1st, 2026 and end date is October 31st, 2026.

04/30/2026

We have some WHALEY exciting news - yesterday saw the first confirmed detection of a North Atlantic right whale in Canadian waters this year!!

Visit whalemap.org to see the most recent confirmed visual and acoustic detections. This free and publicly available online tool helps track where some North Atlantic right whales have been spotted in near real-time through science and technology, giving us a small glimpse into their world.

Disclaimer: These detections reflect only a portion of the population that was seen or heard where surveys were conducted or hydrophones were listening.

04/29/2026

The 2025–2026 North Atlantic right whale calving season produced the highest number of births since 2009! 🤯

As the season wraps up, 23 mother-calf pairs are heading north, the fourth highest total on record. Even more encouraging, scientists at the Aquarium's Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life report that many moms are having calves more frequently again!

It’s been an exciting season for this critically endangered species, including three first-time moms: “Callosity Back” (Catalog # 3760), “Mirror” (Catalog # 4617), and an unnamed right whale (Catalog # 4610).

Meet all the mom-calf pairs from this season: https://bit.ly/4rtkdiv

📸: New England Aquarium, taken under NOAA Permit # 25739-01

04/29/2026

The Canadian Whale Institute is pleased to share the newest edition of our newsletter, The Right Perspective! Click here to read: https://us17.campaign-archive.com/?u=0315e4dff7d47d81fd3de5228&id=100aac617a

Stay connected and never miss an update — subscribe using the link below! 🐳https://canadianwhaleinstitute.us17.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=0315e4dff7d47d81fd3de5228&id=a6faa96bee

We’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment below with your suggestions for future topics or stories you’d like us to cover.

For April, as our lawns awaken with new growth and the first yellow flowers appear, we would like to introduce a newly named whale, Dandelion ( #4120). Dandelion is a 15-year-old female whose mother is Flounder ( #2420). She was one of 18 right whales to be named in 2025. The inspiration for Dandeli...