During
our mid-season update last Saturday night, we described the poor weather and
the paucity of whale sightings, suggesting that this season might be mirroring
the last, when sightings picked up in the second half. How prophetic! At 9:01 Sunday
morning the phone rang. Team Leader Larry Bell, en route to meet with Team 4, had
sighted whales from the road. The Team, Becki, Jim, and the Georgia Aquarium
Travelling Trevallies converged on Highbridge Road and verified a mother and
calf, well to the south and moving very little. The Air Cam arrived shortly
after 11:30 and obtained photos.
The pair was
provisionally identified to be Catalog #1604 with her 5th calf, the
same pair that eluded us in the fog off Ormond Beach on 13 January. They were
difficult again this day, too, remaining nearly stationary the entire day in an
area of North Peninsula State Park where there was no parking along the road
and, thus, no access to see them. We hoped the pair would come south to Ormond-By-The-Sea,
but this did not happen.
Continuing
south on their survey track 1.5 nm offshore, the Air Cam crew soon spotted a
large group of dolphins about a mile to the east and flew out to investigate.
As they approached, two right whales surfaced…another mother and calf! Circling
for photos, the whales treated the crew to some noteworthy interactions,
including the calf lying across mom’s back as seen in this
Then,
Monday dawned and it got even better. Photographer Ed Siarkowicz, on Flagler
Pier, called Team Leader David Ogg at 6:50 to report two whales headed north.
At nearly the same time, Julie Albert from MRC phoned Jim with the same report
from fisherman “Big Mike” Lussier, who was also on the Pier. Dave called
Assistant Team Leader Terry Clark and she and Char Crawford quickly acquired
the whales while Jim got on the road. Terry, Char, Gary Phillips, and Chris Young
(the Monday Team 3) kept the whales in sight using our leapfrog method. The Air
Cam arrived shortly before 11:00 and recognized Catalog #1604 and calf! The two
were quite active and the Air Cam crew photographed mom on her left side, with
her right eye visible above the water and the calf resting its head on her pec
flipper, a rare sight.
This
time, the whales cooperated by slowly swimming north, close to shore, in
excellent sighting conditions. They were visible all day, including a report
from the Georgia Aquarium Travelling Trevallies survey team at 4:15 pm that the
pair was at Jungle Hut Road in The Hammock.
