Southeast Shoal of Grand Banks IMMA

Criterion B: Distribution and Abundance

Sub-criterion B2: Aggregations

Substantial aggregations of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) and white-beaked dolphins (Lagenorhynchus albirostris) have been documented on the Southeast Shoal of the Grand Banks during the capelin spawning period in June-July (Whitehead and Glass 1985a).  Photo-identification surveys in 1982 and 1983 estimated that about 900 humpback whales used the shoal, about 15-30% of the humpback whale population in the Northwest Atlantic at that time (Whitehead and Glass 1985a).  Some of the humpback whale groups observed were exceptionally large (over 40 animals; Whitehead and Glass 1985a). Cetacean sightings records collected from a variety of sources and collated by Fisheries and Oceans Canada over the past 80+ years show that a variety of cetacean species occur in this general area, and this area is predicted to be potentially important habitat for both humpback whale and white-beaked dolphins in a recent Species Distribution Modelling study (Gomez et al. 2020).

Criterion C: Key Life Cycle Activities

Sub-criterion C2: Feeding Areas

Many marine predators off Newfoundland depend on the small fish capelin (Mallotus villosus) as primary sustenance (e.g. Whitehead and Carscadden 1985 for baleen whales).  Capelin are particularly aggregated and slow moving when they spawn.  Most capelin spawn along the shoreline but, unusually, there is a large spawning aggregation on the Southeast Shoal (Carscadden 1976).  This seems to be an important source of nutrition for humpback whales (and probably white-beaked dolphins), whose distributions were highly correlated with the presence of sonar traces of capelin schools (Whitehead and Glass 1985a).  Although this area has not been the focus of more recent cetacean surveys, it is assumed that these feeding aggregations persist.