Right Whales Spotted Just Before Fog Rolls In

Just as this morning’s 8:00 AM surveys were scheduled to begin, Julie Albert of Marine Resources Council called with a sighting report from Ormond Beach via the Hotline. Becki and Team 5 converged on the Grenada Blvd. lookout and spotted a mother and calf right whale in the gathering fog about ¾ mile offshore, heading north. Becki was able to obtain some photos before the fog thickened and obliterated all trace of them. This is the head of the mother. We are working on the ID.

 

Jim and Joy joined the group and we leapfrogged north, estimating where the whales might be using past data we have collected on swim speed, hoping that the fog would lift to reacquire them. We hung on until early afternoon, but the fog showed no signs of abating. We called it shortly before 1:30 PM.

The weather forecast for tomorrow is discouraging, but any reasonable effort to look for these two will be well worth it. Although they were heading north this morning, we know from past experience that they could change direction and be anywhere from The Hammock to Ponce Inlet. Let’s give it a good try if the weather will allow!

First Florida Right Whale

With the warm weather we’ve had recently we started our land surveys Sunday with a hunch that it would take the cold front later this week to coax the whales to move south. And, once again, we were surprised.

Julie Albert of Marine Resources Council called Jim at 9:40 AM on Sunday morning with a sighting report from South Daytona Beach. Less than an hour later, Julie received video shot by Brian Brocious of Volusia County Beach Safety. This confirmed a right whale tail. In addition, it showed extensive peduncle scarring, as seen in this frame from the video.

Jim and Sheila headed south while Julie called the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission aerial survey team. Jim, Sheila and the FWCC aircraft arrived in the Daytona Shores area about the same time, shortly after noon. The whale was now about a mile offshore and elusive. Jim and Sheila waited nearly 30 minutes before they had a brief glimpse of a black fluke tip and a V-blow. The FWCC team had to circle for some time to obtain photos.

Our FWCC colleagues have provisionally identified the whale as Catalog #4092, a potential mother with extensive peduncle scars likely caused by entanglement in fishing gear prior to her arrival in the Southeast. She was seen last week on 29 Dec. off Sea Island, GA. An interesting note is that this whale was part of a group of four that we saw off of Marineland last year on 8 January, also our first sighting of the season. We are now waiting to see if she will have a calf.

The coordination by several groups documented the first Florida right whale for the season! Particular credit goes to the Volusia County Beach Patrol for their video-documented sighting.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Fall is in the air, signaling that it’s time to prepare for right whale season. Pull out your 2014 calendar, break the seal on the 2015, and join us in anticipation of getting our 15^th season (yes, 15!!) underway. See below for the complete schedule.

The 6th Annual Right Whale Festival in Jacksonville Beach, anticipating the return of the whales to NE Florida, kicks off the season in November.

In December, we will offer Introductory Talks in Ormond Beach, Palm Coast, and St. Augustine Beach. The Training Class is scheduled on the day before surveys begin and will focus on the training of surveyors. If you plan to join the dedicated surveys, please do your best to attend to have the latest information on data collection and our plans for the season.

IMPORTANT DATES FOR THE 2014-15 SEASON

Right Whale Festival

Saturday, Nov. 15, 2014

9:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Sea Walk Pavilion

Jacksonville Beach

www.rightwhalefestival.com

Right Whale Introductory Talks for new volunteers, surveyors and spotters alike, and anyone wanting to know how to spot right whales. If you are a returning volunteer and would like a refresher, by all means join us. (Encourage friends and neighbors to attend!):

Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014

1:00 PM to 2:30 PM

Flagler County Public Library

2500 Palm Coast Parkway, NW

Palm Coast

Saturday, Dec. 6, 2014

10:00 AM to 11:30 AM

Ormond Beach Public Library

30 S. Beach St.

Ormond Beach

Saturday, Dec. 6, 2014

3:00 PM to 4:30 PM

Anastasia Island Branch

St. Johns County Public Library

124 Sea Grove Main St.,

St. Augustine Beach

«« Survey Training Class for ALL SURVEY volunteers, new and returning, who are planning to participate in the dedicated survey effort:

Saturday, Jan. 3, 2015

2:00 PM to 4:30 PM

Center for Marine Studies, Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience

9505 Ocean Shore Blvd., Marineland

Surveys Start:

Sunday, Jan. 4, 2015

Surveys End:

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Other Right Whale News

The October issue of Right Whale News is available and can be viewed/downloaded at www.narwc.org. Click on the Right Whale News tab, and then “Current Issue.” Articles include the sighting of an 11^th right whale calf for the 2014 season, right whale activity in Cape Cod Bay, and a review of ocean wind energy projects along the Eastern coast.

The Marineland Right Whale Project report for the 2013-14 season is posted at www.aswh.org. The link is located in the lower left of the homepage.

Right Whale #3546 Update & Earth Day Event

The last sighting of Catalog #3546 and calf occurred on 3 April in Cocoa Beach, confirmed by our colleague Julie Albert of Marine Resources Council. The pair travelled very little the entire day, giving us no hint of where they might appear next. Two days later, Julie relayed information from a Hotline call reporting whales in south New Smyrna Beach. Jim and Joy flew down in the Air Cam and searched the area thoroughly, saw no whales, but did see dozens of manta rays, including some of the largest we have ever observed. Mistaking manta rays for right whales has happened before with less experienced observers, so we believe that the mantas were the source of the whale reports. With more than a week passing since the last sighting, it’s becoming more likely that mother and calf may have slipped past us and are on their way north. Nevertheless, we remain ready to respond in the event the duo reappears.

“Ocean Frontiers” on Earth Day

A free screening of the full (80 minute) version of “Ocean Frontiers” is scheduled for 6:30 PM on 22 April at the Whitney Laboratory Center for Marine Studies building (where we hold our Gatherings). “Ocean Frontiers” chronicles the collaboration of some unlikely allies to devise solutions to environmental problems that benefit both the users and the ecosystems. One of the examples involves reducing ship strikes of right whales in the Northeast.

Right Whale #3546 and Calf at Canaveral Seashore

There were no phone calls yesterday alerting us to where Catalog #3546 and calf might have traveled overnight and for a good reason. Joy and Becki, flying in the Air Cam, spotted the pair about a mile-and-a-half south of the Canaveral National Seashore Headquarters, where there are

very few humans to see them. They were a scant quarter mile from the beach, in near perfect conditions, and quite active at the surface. The photo to the right is of the mother upside-down with the calf lying over top of her chest between her pectoral fins. And, yes, they were STILL headed south!

Right Whale #3546 and Calf Still Swimming South

Our first report of the day came early as Julie Albert of Marine Resources Council called Jim with a Hotline report of whales in Daytona Beach Shores shortly after 8:00 am. With the weather better than originally forecast, we decided to launch the Air Cam. Jim took a turn as aerial observer while Becki headed to the site. As she came to A1A from Dunlawton Avenue in Port Orange, Becki

spotted them through her windshield. Yes, Catalog #3546 and calf were just offshore and heading south. When the Air Cam arrived about two hours later, the pair had traveled south of Sunglow Pier. In the photo to the right, the calf appears to be lying on the top of Mom’s head.

Becki stayed with them for another three hours, securing the watch at 3:17 pm from North Turn Restaurant. If they continue like this, mom and calf could be back in New Smyrna Beach or as far as Canaveral Seashore tomorrow. We plan to have the Air Cam flying to follow them!

Right Whale #3546 & Calf Continue South

On their way home from church this morning, veteran surveyors Dale and Peach Hench cruised north along A1A in Ormond-By-The-Sea while, of course, watching the ocean when what did their trained eyes see? Catalog #3546 and calf just south of the World War II tower! They stopped and then stayed with the whales, moving south until Jim and Joy could arrive with the camera. We followed the steady progress south of mother and calf all afternoon. Periodically, they would

stop for a short while and the mother would roll on her back with pectoral fins extended in the air. See the example photo to the right.

We left them at Granada Blvd. just after 5:00 pm. Julie Albert of Marine Resources Council emailed us this evening that at 7:35 pm a Hotline report placed them in north Daytona Beach. We can hardly wait to see what they will do next!