For such large and well-studied animals, North Atlantic right whales are good at keeping secrets.
Until about seven years ago, no one knew that many of them congregate early each winter in Jordan Basin, which is about 60 miles south of Bar Harbor in the Gulf of Maine.
And now scientists think the area may be something they have been searching for: a mating ground for the endangered whales. With a population estimated at 440, they are among the planet’s rarest mammals, and scientists are eager to understand their mating habits.
Last fall, researchers from the New England Aquarium mounted several expeditions by boat to see the whales, which had been surveyed previously only by plane. They got tantalizing glimpses of unusual winter behavior.
Read the complete story from The Boston Globe.