It is time for some good news.
Our last right whale sighting was on Monday, 15 February. It was Catalog #1243, Magic, and calf. In the closing days of February, we chased several reported sightings but were unable to verify them. Early March was quiet, very quiet. We had a solid week of good to excellent conditions. No whales.
Here’s the interesting part (you really can’t make this stuff up!). At 8:47 AM on Friday the 5th, Jim sent out an email wondering if there were unaccounted for whales that might surprise us. Minutes later, at 8:49 AM, Julie Albert from Marine Resources Council called with a sighting from Flagler Beach. The caller was the recently elected mayor. She was 100% certain it was a right whale. We went down, flew the drone twice, but had no success with photos. The winds were brisk and increasing, and the sea state was a Beaufort 4+ (numerous white caps). From binocular views, we categorized it as a mother-calf pair, with a large calf.
The winds were brisk, and there were abundant whitecaps. We were not able to get images from the drone. However, Terry Clark and others were able to identify the sighting as a probable mother-calf pair, heading south. (Photo: S. Ellis)
But wait, there’s more. At 10:03 AM, Katie Jackson from Florida Fish & Wildlife, reported a new mother-calf pair, sighted on 4 March, 25 nautical miles east of Jacksonville (waaaay offshore). It was Catalog #3020, Giza, with her third calf. This brings the season total to 16 calves.
And, there’s still more. Up to the north, Millipede, Catalog #3520, and her calf were sighted off Massachusetts, on Wednesday, 3 March, by the Center for Coastal Studies aerial survey team. Recall that this mother-calf pair was our first sighting for this season – photographed by Martha Garito off the Flagler pier on Monday, 7 December 2020. This pair successfully made the 1,200 mile journey north. The calf is now three months old, and is described as being healthy and independent. This was the first mother-calf pair of the season for the Marineland Right Whale Project, and, similarly, the first mother-calf pair of the season for the Center for Coastal Studies.
The weather and sighting conditions will improve in the coming week for the final days of our survey season (ends Sunday, 14 March). Please keep good watch on the ocean if you are along the shoreline.
