Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Finbacks
are among the biggest animals ever to live on earth. The larg-
est may reach lengths over 80 feet. In this century more than a million
may have been hunted and killed in the world's oceans. For the time
being, they are protected from hunting throughout most of the world, but
researchers say this poorly understood endangered species faces new
threats to its long-term survival.
The whales in the adoption project are part of the
North Atlantic Finback
Whale Catalogue
, a large database of information about individual
finback whales which are identified by natural markings and scars. It is
a cooperative effort by dozens of marine-mammal researchers in the
United States and Canada. The photographic-identification technique
developed by these scientists is currently one of the best tools available
for studying these animals, because each whale can potentially be
tracked over its whole lifetime.
To adopt a finback whale,
288-5644 and charge your contribution on
VISA or MasterCard. Or mail your $30 or $50 donation to Finbacks, Col-
lege of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, ME 04609. Include your name and
address and, if it's a gift, the name and address of the person receiving
the gift.
Maine Endangered Species
Birds:
Golden eagle, Peregrine falcon, piping plover, roseate
tern, Least tern, sedge wren, American pipit, grasshopper spar-
row.
Reptiles & Amphibians:
Blanding's turtle, box turtle, black
racer.
Maine Threatened Species
Birds
: Bald eagle, razorbill, Atlantic puffin, harlequin duck,
Arctic tern, upland sandpiper.
Mammals
: Northern bob lemming.
Reptiles & Amphibians
: Spotted turtle, loggerhead turtle.
Source: Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
