I’ve seen about 24 fin whales feeding (including 6 mother/calf pairs), south of Block island RI last week, and have had reports of fins feeding nearer to Montauk recently. None that I saw were thin. Arthur H. Kopelman, Ph. D. President Coastal Research and Education Society of Long Island president@cresli.org www.cresli.org <http://www.cresli.org/> (all e-mails scanned for viruses before sending) "When the last individual of a race of living things breathes no more, another heaven and another earth must pass before such a one can be again" William Beebe From: marmam-bounces@lists.uvic.ca [mailto:marmam-bounces@lists.uvic.ca] On Behalf Of mjtetley@aol.com Sent: Monday, July 28, 2008 9:04 PM To: marmam@lists.uvic.ca Subject: [MARMAM] Skinny fin whales: Nova Scotia I’ve been collecting data over the past four weeks on the distribution of rorqual whales off the Atlantic Coast of Nova Scotia, Canada. During this time I have encountered a lot of rather skinny looking fin whales. Almost all sighted displayed distinct signs of the vertebrae being discernable, with approximately eight individuals showing concave depressions along their flanks. I was wondering if any other researchers or naturalists working along the East Coast of Canada or the US have noticed this recently as well ? Any information would be most appreciated. Regards Mike Tetley Please address all responses to m.j.tetley@bangor.ac.uk _____ AOL Email goes Mobile! You can now read your AOL Emails whilst on the move. Sign up <http://info.aol.co.uk/email1> for a free AOL Email account with unlimited storage today.