In Photos: The Sea Creatures Lurking Off the Shores of Nantucket
An aerial survey captures images of marine megafauna aplenty in the Atlantic Ocean near the coast of Massachusetts The post In Photos: The Sea Creatures Lurking Off the Shores of Nantucket appeared first on Nautilus .
Recent aerial surveys off the coast of Nantucket revealed a vibrant underwater world teeming with marine life. The New England Aquarium shared stunning photos captured during these surveys in the Northwest Canyons and Seamount Marine National Monument, a protected area spanning over 4,900 square miles, located about 130 miles southeast of Cape Cod.
This region is home to a rich diversity of sea creatures, including dolphins, humpback whales, manta rays, whale sharks, and endangered blue and fin whales—over 2,000 individuals in total. Katherine McKenna, an associate research scientist at the New England Aquarium, highlighted the remarkable diversity, noting the presence of regular visitors like dolphins and sperm whales, as well as large baleen whales attracted by aggregations of zooplankton, and whale sharks and manta rays drawn to the warm waters of the Gulf Stream.
President Barack Obama designated the area as a fully protected marine national monument in 2016, but recent actions by the Trump administration have rolled back some protections and reopened parts of the area to commercial fishing.
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