Two Weeks In
In Week One of our 2023 season, January 4 through 10, our volunteer sighting network partners to the south, the Marine Resources Council (MRC), had five sightings, all of female #4340, Pilgrim, and her first calf. The first sighting for the Marineland Right Whale Project came on 8 January, female #3370, Archipelago, with her third known calf, off Crescent Beach, heading south. This pair was sighted two more days in a row by the MRWP in Flagler Beach and then Daytona Beach. A single yearling, the 2022 calf of female #3430, was sighted off Ponte Vedra on 10 January.
Week Two began on 11 January. The single yearling was sighted again off Beverly Beach on the 11th. Singles were also sighted off the Nautilus Condo late in the day on the 17th and on the 18th off New Smyrna Beach and further south off Port Canaveral.
Occasionally we see juvenile right whales, such as this yearling, which was photographed by drone off Beverly Beach on January 11, 2023. Image: Sara Ellis, research permit 26562.
Archipelago and her calf turned northward and were sighted by the MRWP off Ormond Beach on the 11th and off the Hammock on the 12th. To the south, Julie and Joel of the MRC continued to monitor Whale #4340 Pilgrim, most recently sighted off Sebastian Inlet on the 18th.
To date, there are 10 calves this season. We hope for more. A number in the 20’s would be good. Some days, we have sightings. Other days, we do not. Each day, we wake up and say (with conviction), “Today’s the day.” !
The weather for the start of the season has been remarkable. With the exception of two cold and windy days, where we cancelled the dedicated surveys, we’ve had many days with light winds and calm seas. I can’t remember such a frequency of good conditions in Januarys past.
Beach Surprise
In addition to seeing right whales, over the years of our program we’ve had many beach surprises. Animals that have come ashore or washed up include ocean sunfish, pygmy sperm whale, fin whale, and on 14 February 2018 the upper jaw of a humpback came ashore at the Flagler Beach Pier.
Most recently, on 11 January, the carcass of a female killer whale Orcinus orca, came ashore at Jungle Hut Road. This is only the third time a killer whale has been found stranded in the southeastern U.S. and the first time in nearly 70 years—so a rare event indeed. Members of the local marine mammal stranding network worked all day to remove the carcass from the beach and transport it to a facility for examination. It is too soon to know the exact cause of death, but early indications are that she was an old female with no injuries, but with signs of illness.
We see more than right whales. Here, a beached killer whale, Orcinus orca, off Jungle Hut Road, on January 11, 2023. Image: Martha Garito.
We’ve had an eventful start this season. What will the next few weeks bring? As always, let’s all raise a glass to . . .
“Light winds and heavy whales”
