Picture of a humpback whale breaching the surface Whale Movements - "Rat's" Data
Micro-movements and Macro-movements of Whales

The following data was taken by the Early Warning System (EWS) team of the New England Aquarium (NEA) from 12/05/96 through 02/05/97. The Sighting Number reflects all EWS sightings listed in consecutive order so sightings in which "Rat" was not sighted are not included. The sea state is in the Beaufort Scale (see below table) and the Site Distance is in nautical miles. The latitude and longitude are recored in decimal equivalents of degrees and minutes.

Maps to chart data:

  • Color Map of area
  • Black and White Map of area

    Catalog Page of "Rat" RWC#1509

    Early Warning System Sightings Map

    NOTE:

    The position data received is sometimes in decimal fractions of a whole degree, such as 30.50N degrees. To obtain the degree and minutes equivalent, multiply the decimal fraction times 60 minutes/degree, such as .50 x 60 = 30 minutes. In the case of 30.50 degrees, this equals 30 degrees and 30 minutes.

    • Sighting No. Date Time (EST) Latitude Longitude Sea State (Beaufort) Site Distance (NM)
    1 12/08/96 1140 30.50'N 81.34'W 4 0.8
    3 12/11/96 1215 30.65'N 81.35'W 3 2.2
    7 12/13/96 1031 30.25'N 81.34'W 2 0.5
    21 01/06/97 1109 30.51'N 81.27'W 2 0.2
    24 01/07/97 1049 30.43'N 81.34W 3 0.3
    26 01/11/97 1421 30.75'N 81.32'W 2 2.4
    35 01/16/97 0949 30.45'N 81.38'W 3 0.4
    40 01/18/97 1535 30.25'N 81.37'W 4 0.4
    42 01/19/97 1111 30.38'N 81.30'W ? ?
    47 01/20/97 1206 30.62'N 81.28'W 2 0.4
    65 02/02/97 0945 30.29'N 81.19'W 2 0.7
    67 02/03/97 1254 30.41'N 81.28'W 1 1.2
    72 02/04/97 1616 30.76'N 81.28'W 1 .07

    Sample Activities and Questions:

    1) Where on the East coast was "Rat" sighted? ( Map Generator)
    2) What was the range of movement for the entire time period?
    3) How far did "Rat"travel in a day? average for all days? ( Distance generator)
    4) In what depth of water did "Rat" spend most of its time?

    Tools and Links:
    The Beaufort Scale /Sea State Scale(Northern Illinois Univeristy)
    Whale Species Identification Chart :Allied Whale/College of the Atlantic
    Specimen Images Listed by Phylum (images)
    Marine Mammal Classifications and descriptions by species
    Map Generator
    Distance generator from any two points
    Tide Generator and Current Predictor

    WhaleNet
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