Rare sighting of bowhead whale in Cape Cod Bay

Posted Friday, April 18, 2014 11:09 am

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Associated Press

PROVINCETOWN, Mass. (AP) -- Researchers have identified a bowhead whale in Cape Cod Bay - the second time in recorded history the animal has been seen so far south in the Atlantic Ocean.

Workers for the Provincetown, Mass.-based Center for Coastal Studies reported Friday the bowhead was identified during an aerial survey on April 11 as it fed alongside right whales.

Bowheads typically inhabit the Arctic Ocean and northern reaches of the Atlantic and Pacific. The center said the whale was about 1,000 miles outside of its normal range. Even sightings in the colder waters off Maine or New Hampshire are unusual.

The center said the animal was not in danger.

The first time a bowhead was spotted so far south in the Atlantic was in 2012 off Orleans, Mass.