A Surprise Sighting!

We thought the whale season was over.  Done.  Whales gone.

But, Thursday morning, 21 March, the phone rang.  A mother-calf pair, #3370, off Surf Club.  They went slowly south, and by 5:30, they were off Varn Park. 

The surprise is that this pair was sighted off Georgia on March 8, headed north.  Somehow, and for some reason, they changed their mind.  Two weeks went by.  Then, the Surf Club sighting!

On Friday, 22 March, they were sighted again, just south of Grenada Blvd. in Ormond Beach, still heading south! They continued south at a steady pace until we left them at Main St. Pier in Daytona Beach just before 5 PM. 

Will we see them when they return north? Keep your eyes peeled just in case!

Whales on March 2

It has been a l-o-o-o-o-o-n-g 2 1/2 weeks since our last right whale sighting.  Recall that on Tuesday, 12 February, we had female #3370 and her 2^nd calf, down at Highbridge in North Peninsula State Park.  It was a memorable event, as our report was a new mother-calf pair for the season:  #6.

Then it got quiet―at least for us.  But not for mother-calf pair #3370.  They traveled farther south, south of Cape Canaveral, and getting down to Sebastian Inlet on 19 February.  They then turned north.  They were off New Smyrna Beach on 28 February, and off Daytona Beach Shores on Friday, 1 March.

Saturday, it was our turn.  The phone rang at 07:47 in the morning.  Terry Clark and Dave Gustafson reported whales from North Flagler.  We were on site at N 16^th Street by 08:35.  We relayed information to Florida Fish and Wildlife, and their plane arrived about 09:45.  We also got in a number of drone flights (image below).  The whales were slowly moving back-and-forth, in close, and in calm seas, until about noon.

Our season has two more weeks. In some past years, March has been a strong month for sightings. Keep your eyes peeled seaward!

Female #3370 with her 2nd calf, returns to our area after 2 1/2 weeks down south. The calf is growing! (Image from N. Flagler Beach on 2 March by Terry Clark, conducted under NOAA/NMFS research permit #20626)