Right Whale #3546 and Calf Still Swimming South

Our first report of the day came early as Julie Albert of Marine Resources Council called Jim with a Hotline report of whales in Daytona Beach Shores shortly after 8:00 am. With the weather better than originally forecast, we decided to launch the Air Cam. Jim took a turn as aerial observer while Becki headed to the site. As she came to A1A from Dunlawton Avenue in Port Orange, Becki

spotted them through her windshield. Yes, Catalog #3546 and calf were just offshore and heading south. When the Air Cam arrived about two hours later, the pair had traveled south of Sunglow Pier. In the photo to the right, the calf appears to be lying on the top of Mom’s head.

Becki stayed with them for another three hours, securing the watch at 3:17 pm from North Turn Restaurant. If they continue like this, mom and calf could be back in New Smyrna Beach or as far as Canaveral Seashore tomorrow. We plan to have the Air Cam flying to follow them!

Right Whale #3546 & Calf Continue South

On their way home from church this morning, veteran surveyors Dale and Peach Hench cruised north along A1A in Ormond-By-The-Sea while, of course, watching the ocean when what did their trained eyes see? Catalog #3546 and calf just south of the World War II tower! They stopped and then stayed with the whales, moving south until Jim and Joy could arrive with the camera. We followed the steady progress south of mother and calf all afternoon. Periodically, they would

stop for a short while and the mother would roll on her back with pectoral fins extended in the air. See the example photo to the right.

We left them at Granada Blvd. just after 5:00 pm. Julie Albert of Marine Resources Council emailed us this evening that at 7:35 pm a Hotline report placed them in north Daytona Beach. We can hardly wait to see what they will do next!

Right Whale #3546 & Calf on Schedule and Elusive

Once again, the Marine Resources Council’s Hotline came through as Julie called Jim just after noon with a report of whales at Hammock Dunes, about where we expected them to be based on yesterday’s position and behavior. Forty minutes later, Sharon Ralston, leader of the Hammock Dunes Survey Team, sighted them at the clubhouse and Jim brought the camera. Finding a

mother and calf right whale already well to the north, Jim barely had time to squeeze off a few photos before they moved out of range.

Jim and Sharon repositioned at Jungle Hut Road, where Joy joined them, but the whales were nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile, in the space of less than an hour, the sea state had increased from a Beaufort 2 to a 5! A beach-goer passing by told us that he had seen a whale at Jungle Hut before we arrived and it was heading north. This suggested that the whales had increased their swim speed, so Joy moved to 16^th Road. She finally spotted a vigorous blow to the south and Jim repositioned here, but the whales were now moving rapidly north and east, very low in the water a mile or more from shore, out of reach of the camera. We kept track of them through their infrequent blows.

Concerned that the photos we had would not be enough to ID the whales, we called the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) aerial survey ground contact to check if their survey plane was available to respond. They were and arrived at our position just before 3:00 pm, although the sea state, now bordering on a Beaufort 6, obscured the whales on their first pass and we radioed them from the ground to relay a new position. It worked and the observers confirmed our suspicion that they were likely Catalog #3546 and calf. Given their rate of travel, they could be off St. Augustine tomorrow!

Right Whale #3546 and Calf Finally Headed North?

Tuesday, 25 March, and today, 27 March, brought fresh sightings of Catalog #3546 and her calf. On both days, the initial calls came through Julie Albert and the Marine Resources Council’s Hotline. On Tuesday, the pair was in New Smyrna Beach and Julie herself drove up to take photos (she has the same 600 mm telephoto lens as we use) with Jim making the trip south to lend a hand. This morning, the initial reports around 10:00 am had the whales at the north end of

Daytona Beach, heading north at a steady pace that brought them to Ormond Beach by the time Jim could reach the area. Becki, with the help of Team 4 surveyors, Elaine and John Kelley, kept them in sight until Jim arrived.

If mother and calf continue on the same heading at a comparable swim speed, we could see them in Flagler Beach tomorrow. Of course, they gave us the slip before and reversed course, but, perhaps, the urge to head north to find the dense swarms of copepods (right whale food) is making itself felt. It’s worth keeping an eye out!

Right Whale Season Isn't Over Yet!

The hunt for Catalog #3546 and calf was on. They were last seen in Daytona Beach Shores on Monday, 17 March, slowly heading north. The weather was finally cooperating on 20 March and Jim had notified the team to be on the lookout. The Air Cam launched at 10:30 am. As it approached Matanzas Inlet to start our aerial survey, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) right whale aerial survey team radioed that they had a sighting just to the south of Washington Oaks State Park, near Sea Colony in the Hammock. Joy called Jim from the Air Cam to alert him. At the same time, the circling FWC Skymaster aircraft caught the attention of Sea Colony surveyor Sue Hecht and she called Paula Treidel, Sea Colony Team Leader, who notified Jim.

Finished with photographing, the FWC team radioed the Air Cam and relayed that the whales

were Catalog #2746 and calf, NOT #3546 as we had expected! After finishing our northern track line, the Air Cam came south and circled for photographs. The pair remained in the area, close to shore, throughout the day, affording us one of the best sightings of the season.

So, where did Catalog #3546 and her calf go? The answer became clearer yesterday as Julie with Marine Resources Council received a report of whales in Cocoa Beach. With the help of an FWC vessel, Julie was able to get photographs. They were provisionally identified as, you guessed it, Catalog #3546 and calf! We still have a chance to catch them on their way north, so keep your eyes peeled. Our response bags are ready to go!

Rainy Day Whales

Pouring rain…the perfect weather to work on data and straighten up the files. We call it an “indoor sports day.” We were well into it when, at 12:30, Julie Albert from the Marine Resources Council called with a Hotline report from Judith Terman of two whales, one small, from The Towers in Ponce Inlet. We were amazed! How could anyone see whales in this rain? Before setting out in this awful weather, Jim asked Julie to see if anyone could confirm that they were right whales. She called Michael Brothers of the Marine Science Center in Ponce Inlet and, heading to the beach, he reported seeing a mother and calf right whale, swimming north.

Jim and Joy arrived in the area around 2:30 PM and Julie provided contact information for one of the spotters, Sheila Lipp, who called in a recent report. In a stroke of very good luck, the whales

were still visible to the north from Sheila’s 7^th floor condo, which came with a covered balcony overlooking the ocean. We were able to photograph the whales from this sheltered location. Suspecting this was Catalog #3546 and calf, we shared the photos with our Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission colleagues, who agreed.

After thanking Sheila, her husband, and friends for opening their home to us, we drove a little north to see if we could catch the whales straight out from the beach. Finding a walkover with a shelter, we searched the ocean, but mist descended quickly and within minutes it began to rain harder. With almost no visibility and no whales in sight, we secured the watch and headed home.

Since Catalog #3546’s calf was born somewhat later in the season, she may be lingering in the area to allow the calf more time to mature before beginning their migration north. Thus, if you happen to be along the coast in the next several days, take your binoculars with you and watch the ocean!

Sebastian Right Whale Adventure

The data we collect contributes to a greater understanding of trends in right whale behavior and habitat use, but we also are intensely interested in what we can learn from the “outliers,” the whales that make use of the edges of the habitat and beyond. Yesterday, 10 March, we assisted our colleague Julie Albert of Marine Resources Council (MRC) to confirm the identity of one such pair of outliers.

On Saturday, 8 March, mother and calf right whales were reported to the MRC Hotline and photographed at Jensen Beach (just north of Stuart, FL). The photos provided confirmation of the species, but not the identity. Yesterday, Julie received a Hotline call just before 9:00 AM reporting whales in Sebastian (south of Melbourne) from a surf fisherman who had kept the yellow phone card he’d received years ago. Julie contacted Jim to see if we could help and Jim called Joy to prepare for a possible flight to Sebastian.

Julie called again shortly before 11:30 AM to report that she had the whales in sight. The Air Cam was already flying south on its regular survey and we decided to continue on to Sebastian. Two hours later, Joy called Julie for the whales’ current position and within minutes, Joy and Becki were circling for photos above the beautiful turquoise water.

The pair is provisionally identified as Catalog #3546 with her first calf. They were previously photographed by the Air Cam on Sunday, 2 March in New Smyrna Beach and are likely the same whales seen in Jensen Beach on 8 March. Assisting MRC in this endeavor accomplished two objectives; we confirmed the whales’ unusual journey south of the right whale critical habitat and have a better idea of how to position the Air Cam to respond to sightings further afield if desirable.

Having flown so far from its home base in Hastings, the Air Cam landed at Sebastian Airport and took on necessary fuel for both aircraft and crew before making the two-plus hour return trip to Hastings. Based on continuing Hotline reports, the whales are headed north and could arrive in our survey area on Friday or Saturday, just in time for our last two days of dedicated survey!

Monday’s Right Whale Identified

Thanks to our Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) colleagues, we have a

provisional ID for the mother right whale sighted in Ormond Beach on Monday, 3 March. She is Catalog #2645, an 18-year-old named Insignia. We last saw her in 2005. Photo attached.


The two female whales we sighted on Sunday, 2 March, Catalog #2746 and #3546 are an interesting coincidence…they are aunt and niece. Catalog #1246 is the mother of #3546 and the grandmother of #2746. We have not seen #2746 in our study area prior to this season, but we saw #3546 as a calf in 2005, then in the company of groups of whales in 2009, 2010, and 2011. She is also the only first-time mother so far this season. To date, there are ten mother/calf right whale pairs identified.


Right Whale News

The February issue of Right Whale News has been posted at www.narwc.org. Highlights include a mid-season update from the SEUS, Ship-Strike Final Rule, Navy funded research projects, proposed seismic testing, and information on the Black Sea Bass pot/trap fishery in the southeast.

And, if you have not already done so, please add or update your entry on the subscriber list via this link: http://eepurl.com/JvmKf. Beginning with this issue, all communication regarding Right Whale News will be delivered through the new subscriber service ("Mail Chimp") and the old distribution list will be deleted. The link is also available via the Right Whale News tab on www.narwc.org.

Right Whale Bonanza!

Sunday morning, 2 March, dawned with a thick blanket of fog over most of the coastline we survey, a condition we have faced quite often this season. To the very south, though, there was a break and, just after 8:30 AM, Debbie Cook, working the Sunglow Pier Bait Shop, called Becki with a whale sighting. Minutes later, Julie Albert with the Marine Resources Council Hotline, called Jim with a report from the same area. Doris and Robert Unger, Team 5, responded and confirmed right whales at Herron St. in Wilbur by the Sea. Jim and Pat Schubert headed south and Joy and Becki headed for the airport.

Doris and Robert held on to the whales until Jim and Pat could meet them around 11:15 AM at Winter Haven Park. They worked the sighting south and confirmed two right whales, but distance and fog prevented them from knowing if they were a mother/calf pair or two individuals. We needed the Air Cam. With the fog seeming to thin, Joy and Becki made final preparations and started the engines. At 12:17 PM, just as Joy was ready to taxi to the runway, Jim called and said to shut down, the fog had moved back in. Both teams grabbed some lunch and waited for the fog to clear again.

An hour later, conditions had improved, but the ground crew could not find the whales and assumed that they had moved south of Ponce Inlet. Fog was still clinging to the coast from Daytona north, so Joy and Jim decided to launch the Air Cam and fly inland to the south end of New Smyrna Beach, then out over the water and survey north with the sun behind them. At 3:30 PM, minutes after beginning to survey in New Smyrna, Joy and Becki spotted the whales and confirmed a mother/calf pair, Catalog #3546, along with a large number of dolphins. Photo attached. This pair had been sighted two days before, in the early evening, from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) aerial observer house in S. Ponte Vedra.

Meanwhile, in St. Augustine, Penny Bellas of Team 1, frustrated at having to cancel the morning’s survey due to zero visibility, decided to conduct her own survey in mid-afternoon when the fog had finally dissipated. Arriving at Crescent Beach Park at 3:45 PM, she picked up her binoculars for a closer look at a slick area in the water and spotted a very tall V-blow followed by a black head. With a longer look, Penny realized she

likely had a mother/calf pair and called Jim. As soon as Joy and Becki had finished photographing the New Smyrna pair, Pat Schubert radioed the location of this new sighting and the Air Cam headed north. At 4:45 PM, Joy and Becki spotted this second pair, Catalog #2746, who we last saw on Valentine’s Day.

But wait, there’s more! The FWC aerial survey team sighted a third mother/calf pair, Catalog #3157, about 5 miles east of Flagler Pier, bringing the day’s count to three mother/calf pairs, all of whom came south in the last week. Thus, it wasn’t a surprise when Monday, 3 March, brought news of another sighting.

Team 5 was at Al Weeks Park, Ormond Beach, just getting their survey sheet ready when, at 8:02, Pat Lamee spotted a mother/calf pair. They moved slowly south and east. At mid-day, the calf became quite active and breached several times along with some tail-slapping, much to the delight of those watching. Conferring with our FWC colleagues, our photos do not appear to match any of the three mothers from Sunday! Stay tuned for an update!