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Congratulations to our Blue Planet Superheroes one person or animal can CHANGE the world!

Dr. Brown is both a Senior Scientist for the Canadian Whale Institute and the New England Aquarium.

"Blue" thumbs up to Blue Planet Super Hero Dr. Moira Brown.  For over twenty-three years, her dedication as a tireless advocate and passionate leader for the conservation of the most endangered large whale on the planet - the North Atlantic right whale - is an extraordinary example of how one person can influence the destiny of an entire species and its survival on Our Blue Planet! 

Recipient of the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award (2006) from the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Canadian Geographic Gold Medal Award (2003) and the Gulf of Maine Council Visionary Award (2002) her work is recognized as being both inspirational and instrumental in protecting this most majestic of ocean ambassadors. Her accomplishments include successfully leading two collaborative efforts to move shipping lanes and to create and "area to be avoided" in regions of the right whales' Canadian feeding habitats in the Bay of Fundy and Roseway Basin. In the last four years, these changes have resulted in a 90% reduction in the probability of whale ship collisions - a leading cause of whale mortality. Click here to learn more about Blue Planet Super Hero Dr. Moe Brown, the North Atlantic right whale and what you can do to help!


A Blue Planet Superhero!

The North Atlantic right whale

*  Only 400 left on the planet *

*  Called the "Urban Whale" because they tend to migrate very close to North America's eastern shore *

*  They are in greatest jeopardy from ship strikes, fishing gear entanglements and coastal pollution*

* As the whales migrate north in the spring to their summer feeding grounds in the Bay of Fundy, 1/3 of the known mothers "disappear" and researchers have yet to discover their" secret" summer feeding grounds and location *

* Three out of every four whales bear the scars of fishing gear entanglements or ship strikes *

* Whale lineage can be identified through DNA some of which is collected from "whale poop" which researchers locate with the help of poop sniffing dogs! *

Resources

* The North Atlantic right whale catalogue at the New England Aquarium

*  The New England Aquarium GIS mapping project

* Information on shipping lanes from the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies

* The North Atlantic right whale conservation program at the MA Department of Fisheries.

* The Canadian Whale Institute

* The Ocean Conservancy

*  Recent sightings from entanglement

Thought to be virtually extinct until 1980, the North Atlantic right whale hangs on today in very fragile numbers.  After over two decades of ongoing research, including identifying and cataloguing every known individual, it is now believed that there are 400 North Atlantic right whales alive today.

It is unknown how many North Atlantic right whale lives have and will be saved because of Moe Brown and her fellow researchers, but we know it will be many.  And through her work, tens of thousands of people have come to know and love one of the world's rarest mammals - a majestic ambassador of the seas that we hope will be here for many more years to come.  Thank you to one of our original Blue Planet Super heroes!