Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Mother and Calf Right Whales in Ormond

After several days of windy weather and no sightings, the Tuesday morning fog lifted and a soft sun emerged to reveal whales to a former surveyor, still on the alert, who phoned the MRC Right Whale Hotline number at 11:02. Mobile Survey Team 4 acquired them and followed ... working south to the North County Beach Patrol Tower in Ormond. Here, the whales came closer and the response team of Jim, Sheila, and Becki were able to get photos and confirm a mother-calf pair! They were provisionally identified as mother #1604, age unknown (but more than 25 years old) and calf number unknown. In the image, the thin white scar on the right lateral surface helped with the identification. We previously saw this mother and calf on 28 December off Crescent Beach.