This is the hard part! We are 2 ½ weeks into our surveys. The water is warm, the ocean is quiet, and right whales are few in number. What lies ahead? We don’t know! But good science and conservation calls for us to stay with it.
So far, there are only three mother-calf pairs reported for the southeastern U.S. And, only a single adult male, Catalog #3530, Ruffian has been reported. None of these have been sighted in our area. But there is hope. Catalog #1711 and her
calf were photographed south of Cape Canaveral, off Satellite Beach on 14 January (image to right) and off Sebastian Inlet the next day. There is a chance they will come back north into our area. And, we are always on the lookout for additional mother/calf pairs.
On other news: Team 1 and Joy were interviewed for Channel 12 news on Monday, 16 January (http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/st-augustine/right-whale-watchers/386721627). And, the January 2017 issue of Right Whale News has been posted (www.narwc.org, select Right Whale News, and then Current Issue).
Here are wishes for “Light Winds and Heavy Whales.” Keep your flippers crossed!
