Mid-Atlantic Humpback whale Monitoring 2015-2020

Original provider: HDR Environmental, Operations and Construction, Inc. Dataset credits: The U.S. Navy Marine Species Monitoring Program Abstract: North Atlantic humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) of the West Indies distinct population segment (Bettridge et al. 2015) migrate from six northern feeding grounds to Caribbean Sea waters during the winter months (Waring et al. 2013). Some whales do not take part in this migration and use the Mid-Atlantic region to over-winter (Barco et al. 2002). Understanding the occurrence and behavior of humpback whales in the vicinity of U.S. Navy training and vessel transiting activities off the coast of Virginia is important in mitigating potentially harmful impacts on the species. The objectives of this project under the Navy’s Marine Species Monitoring Program are to establish baseline occurrence and behavior data for humpback whales in the Hampton Roads mid-Atlantic region by addressing the following questions: - What age classes (juveniles, sub-adults, adults) are utilizing the waters within and adjacent to the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay? - Do humpback whales exhibit site-fidelity over periods of days to years? - Do humpback whales congregate in specific high-traffic and/or high-use Navy training areas? - Do humpback whales spend significant time within or move through areas of U.S. Navy live-fire and mine neutralization exercise (MINEX) training)? This dataset documents animal sightings, boat tracks, and satellite tagging data collected during nearshore monitoring efforts off the coast of Virginia Beach, VA. Since its inception in 2015, the program has focused on tracking the presence and movement of humpback and fin whales in the region. Survey Summary and Findings: - January – May 2015: Initial monitoring efforts recorded sightings of humpback whales within the nearshore study area. - October 2017 – March 2018: Over the course of 15 survey days, the team recorded sightings and boat tracks. Additionally, six humpback whales and three fin whales were tracked using Argos satellite tags. - July 2018 – May 2019: Monitoring increased to 28 survey days. During this window, ten humpback whales were successfully tagged and tracked via satellite. - December 2019 – March 2020: The final survey period included 15 days of nearshore monitoring for animal sightings and boat tracking.. The work was performed by HDR for NAVFAC LANT under the following task orders and contract awards: - 2015 Monitoring: Task Order CTO 54 (IDIQ Contract N62470-10-D-3011) - 2017–2018 Monitoring: Task Order TO17F4013 (IDIQ Contract N62470-15-D-8006) - 2018–2019 Monitoring: Task Order TO19F4005 (IDIQ Contract N62470-15-D-8006) - 2019–2020 Monitoring: Task Order TO20F4011 (IDIQ Contract N62470-15-D-8006)

Citation: Engelhaupt, A. and D. Engelhaupt. 2022. Mid-Atlantic Humpback whale Monitoring 2015-2020. Version 1.3.0. Dataset published in OBIS-SEAMAP. https://doi.org/10.82144/5f73fd36.

Published: February 26, 2026 at 16:53

License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License

URL: http://ipt.env.duke.edu/resource?r=zd_2003