What About All These Humpbacks?!

Tuesday morning (25 February) brought another humpback whale sighting, this time in Beverly Beach, near the two campgrounds and City Hall. Martha Demers of Team 3 was the first to spot the large black shape around 10:30 am. An alert observer at the Flagler-by-the-Sea campground also called Julie at the Marine Resources Council hotline. In previous seasons, humpback sightings seemed more common early in the season (November, December) and late in the season (March,April). To date, we have had several humpback sightings throughout this season. Who are these humpbacks and what are they doing here?

On the 25^th Becki Smith took photos (image below) and we shared them with our colleagues at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), who have collected humpback whale photos for a number of years and have assembled an informal catalog

of the whales seen by the SE US survey teams. Humpbacks are usually photographically identified by the pattern of white splotches on the underside of their tail and the formal catalog is curated by the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies (PCCS) on Cape Cod. But, unlike the situation in New England, the humpbacks here rarely raise their flukes. So we (collectively) have focused on dorsal fins and any body scars. Happily, these photos have been sufficient to distinguish between most individuals and indicate that some humpbacks are making repeat appearances. For example, yesterday’s humpback has a distinctive dorsal fin, and has been sighted twice before, on 30 December off Georgia and 9 February off Jacksonville Beach. Humpbacks, like right whales, appear to move around throughout the habitat.

Humpbacks are generally the same length as right whales, but are more slender and weigh less. Their more stream-lined shape allows them to swim faster and, thus, chase faster prey, such as the small bait fish that school in our coastal waters. Most of the SE US humpbacks appear to be juveniles. The PCCS has a dorsal fin catalog for humpbacks in the Gulf of Maine and has matched one humpback from the FWC catalog to a Gulf of Maine humpback. Hopefully, there will be more matches in the future and we will begin to have a better understanding of the humpbacks visiting our coastline.

Note: For a more complete description of humpback distinguishing characteristics with photos, see the “Right Whale Team Handbook” available as a PDF on www.aswh.org.

Humpback Whales Show Off in Flagler Beach

Judy Bowman of Team 3 spotted blows, breaches and dorsal fins in south Beverly Beach around 9:30 this morning and reported multiple humpback whales. At the same time, Julie with the Marine Resources Council’s Right Whale Hotline relayed calls from other spotters at Flagler Beach. The Sighting Network at its best!

On this truly glorious day, a pair of humpbacks stayed relatively close to shore and quite active as they moved south, putting on a good show for everyone who came out to have a look. Dave and Maryanne Gustafson enabled Jim to locate our camera

on the roof of the Aliki, 15 stories tall, and photograph the whales from that excellent vantage point. In the image to the right, note the characteristic dorsal fin that readily identifies it as a humpback.

Whales Keep Us on Our Toes

Two sightings of whales yesterday, within six miles of each other and rather far out to sea, had us working hard to figure out exactly what we were observing and underlined the importance of good coordination and data collection.

Team 3 started with a sighting that appeared to be a right whale just after 9:30 AM to the northeast of Beverly Beach Town Hall. About an hour later, Becki was able to confirm it was a right whale from Flagler-By-The-Sea Campground. As Jim headed south with the camera, Team 2 called that they had whales at Malacompra Avenue in the Hammock. Jim detoured there and eventually saw the backs and blows of what he thought at the time were two whales, but they were too far out for photos.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) aerial survey plane was reasonably close, and Jim contacted them about our sightings. About an hour later, they confirmed a humpback whale east of Malacompra. Considering how far from shore the whales were in both sightings, we began to wonder if we really had seen right whales. The FWC team checked further south where Team 3 had reported their sighting and located a single right whale, heading steadily south. Yes, Team 3 had seen a right whale!

The single continued south, videotaped by Dale Hench at the Nautilus Condo in S. Flagler Beach around 4:00 PM. We thought it might be an adult male,

Catalog #2510, that the Air Cam had photographed on Monday, one-and-a half-miles offshore from Crescent Beach, heading steadily south, surfacing only briefly to breathe. Our colleagues at FWC told us that yesterday’s single was a different whale, young, perhaps a yearling or two-year-old, who will be harder to identify.

New Right Whale Arrivals

AIR CAM SIGHTING

Braving the chill of Valentine’s Day in the open cockpit of the Air Cam, Joy and Becki were rewarded with sighting Catalog #2746 and her third calf 1.5 nm east of Marineland. This is the first time we have documented this whale in our area. Jim, observing from the Marineland Boardwalk, could barely make them out and they disappeared quickly.

CALF COUNT INCREASES

The number of calves documented in the SE US grew by two in the last few days and now totals eight. Both new additions are familiar to us. Catalog #3157 was sighted off Ponte Vedra on 10 February. In 2010, the Air Cam team was the first to sight her with her first calf and we saw her another four times. Catalog #3546 was seen yesterday off Georgia. We first made her acquaintance in 2005 when she was a calf with her mother, Catalog #1246. We also documented her in 2009, 2010, and 2011 in the company of other whales. Perhaps, both of these mothers will come our way this season!

HUMPBACKS AROUND

Team 3 was barely on watch yesterday when Julie (Marine Resources Council Right Whale Hotline) called with a sighting report of three to four whales at the south end of Beverly Beach. Although the team and Becki did not sight the whales, they met a couple from the nearby campground who had seen them earlier and had a photo that clearly showed a dorsal fin, confirming humpbacks.

Boomerang Makes It Four

The call came early. At 07:39, Julie at the Marine Resources Council Right Whale Hotline called. Someone (didn't leave name or call back number) called the Volusia County Beach Patrol ... whales at around 1900 A1A in Daytona. Becki subsequently relayed the info to Team 5 who verified the sighting from Andy Romano Park. Jim got on the road with Pat Schubert as the response team... and they joined the Team in Ormond Beach.

On a clear calm day, the mother (quickly identified as Catalog #2503, Boomerang) and calf moved slowly north. The survey team jumped north to the Cardinal Street Beach Patrol station and then to the Grenada Waterfront Park. Joy and Becki arrived in the AirCam around 11:15. 

Then ... we got another call from John and Elaine Kelley. More whales to the south. This one turned out to be a robust, healthy looking, humpback who came north to Grenada and then doubled back south. We returned our attention to Boomerang and calf, and the last sighting was from the North County Beach Patrol tower at 13:33. The whales were still coming north, but had moved east a bit. The Traveling Trevallies joined us at several stops. They picked a good week to help out!

Boomerang Circles Back South

The weather has been quite trying this season. Fog, wind, and rain have together and separately, made surveys miserable and impossible. Yet, those who have persisted have been rewarded. Today was one of those days when the odds of finding a whale seemed like a shot in the dark. This time it was higher than forecast winds whipping up white caps to fool the eye. Julie Ogg Zitka, with Team 3 at their next-to-last survey point at the Golden Lion Restaurant around 11:30 AM, beat the odds and caught Catalog #2503, Boomerang, and her calf on their way south again.

The timing couldn’t be better. It’s the perfect way to begin the second half of our season and to welcome back the Traveling Trevallies, volunteers with the Georgia Aquarium, for their fifth season of helping us for a week with surveys.

From the Golden Lion, the action, and many of our volunteers, moved out to the end of Flagler Pier as the pair lingered there, changing direction several times, before swimming steadily south. The wind and sea state abated as the afternoon wore on, improving conditions for everyone who stopped by to take a look. By 3:30 PM, mother and calf were passing Gamble Rogers State Park and we lost them shortly thereafter. Tomorrow’s weather looks to be near perfect. Let’s see if we can spot these whales again!

Boomerang Returns

The fog smothering our coastline for the last few days finally lifted yesterday morning to reveal Whale #2503, Boomerang, and her calf just off the shoreline of Crescent Beach. Diane Lane spotted them from her condo balcony around 10:00 AM and called her husband, David, who was surveying with Team 1. Confirming the sighting from the Lane’s balcony, the team called it in around 10:30 AM. Joy and Becki were making final preparations for an Air Cam survey and arrived to photograph the pair an hour later.

In the photo to the right, there is almost a body length separating the two and we saw this behavior several times while circling overhead. In past seasons, this separation has been observed with older calves, more toward the end of the season, as they begin to gain a bit of independence from the mother. The first sighing of Boomerang was on 20 January with the calf, so the calf’s age cannot be pinpointed, yet it appears to be fairly young and would be expected to remain closer to its mother. Did the close proximity to shore provide a safer environment for greater separation? Do right whales have different mothering styles? Ah, the questions…they never end!

Right Whales Fill the Void

Our long dry spell of no whale sightings broke this morning with a call from Julie Albert of the Marine Resources Council’s Right Whale Hotline around 8:15 AM with a report of whales in Ormond Beach. It was quite a catch, considering the fog blanketing the coast! Team 4 deployed in several locations. It was an exercise in patience and persistence…the visibility was often less than ¼ mile, but it paid off. First, Elaine and John Kelley spotted what proved to be mother and calf right whales at SR 44, Grenada Blvd., Ormond Beach, and then Larry Bell spotted them from Amsden Road, where the response team of Jim and Joy joined them to take photos.

The pair is provisionally identified as Whale #2503, Boomerang, with her 3^rd calf.On 4 December 2005, we photographed Boomerang with her first calf as they swam past Marineland and into history; this is the whale that took her calf all the way to Corpus Christi, Texas in January. Boomerang returned to the SE US in 2009 with calf #2, but we did not see her south of St. Augustine Inlet.

 

The two swam north a short way, then turned south, changing directions several times, before swimming slowly south past Grenada Blvd, close in, for good photos in the best visibility of the day. We left them shortly after 3 PM, about 2 miles south of Grenada Blvd.

But wait, the day got better! Julie from MRC called again, at 1:15 PM, with another reported sighting, this time from Ocean Trace in St. Augustine. We were too far away to respond, so she notified our colleagues with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and they responded by land and sea. This, too, was a mother and calf pair, Whale #2040, Naevus, whom we had not seen south of the St. Augustine Inlet prior to this sighting. Now, this is the way to end a dry spell!

Survey Team 5 Gets First Whale Sighting

Robert Unger is the first Project surveyor to make an initial right whale sighting this season. Hooray for Robert! He spotted the single whale around 9:30 this morning at Riverview Street in Daytona Beach. Kudos to him and wife, Doris, who hung on to the rapid southerly moving whale until the response team could arrive. We had to leapfrog through several stops to get ahead of the whale for identification photos and it did not cooperate, making brief appearances low in the water. By 12:25 PM, we were waving good-bye from Sunglow Pier.

 

Although the whale kept a low profile, all of us could see the large patch of white on its right fluke. Closer examination of the photos revealed a recent injury, still healing. This and the partial head shot enabled our Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission colleagues to provisionally identify the whale as the yearling calf of Whale #3294, first seen off Georgia on 15 January. We did not see this calf and its mother last season in our area.

This yearling’s swim speed was fast enough to initially suppose it might have been a humpback, bolstered by recent humpback sightings in this area. Last Thursday, Bob Jackman on Team 4 sighted a humpback from the Gamble Rogers State Park in South Flagler Beach. Nice work, Bob! Yesterday, the Sunglow Pier bait shop personnel alerted us to 3 to 4 humpback whales traveling south. In both cases, the sightings lasted a short time and were far from shore.

More Right Whales Identified

Our colleagues with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) have provisionally identified three additional right whales from our 8 January sighting at Marineland. We documented all three whales in our area from the Air Cam in previous seasons, so we can say welcome back!

In January 2010, we were the first to ever photograph Whale #4040, Chiminea, off Ormond Beach. The whale’s gender and year of birth are unknown.

Whale #4094 is four-year-old female. We saw her once before in January 2011 off Daytona Beach as a two-year-old.

We are the first to document Whale #3860 in the SE US this season. She is a six-year-old female. We had sightings of her in 2009, 2010, and 2011. In 2011, we had her on the same day as our sighting of Whale #4094, but roughly two miles apart.

There are 22 right whales photo-identified in the SE US to date, including three mother/calf pairs. The most recent mother, Whale #2645, is one that we saw in February 2005 off St. Augustine Beach. We’ll keep our eyes peeled in case she brings her current calf to into our area this season, too!

Our First Right Whales of the Season

Kudos to the staff of Marineland Dolphin Adventure for being the first to spot right whales in our area this season. Curator Kevin Roberts called just before 2:00 PM and within 30 minutes we were able, with their help, to confirm three adult/juvenile right whales at the south end of the facility, slowly drifting south. 

Photographs were difficult in the flat gray light cast by the heavily overcast sky and the whales were a bit stingy with lifting their heads above water for identification shots. We did obtain clear photos of one whale with a distinctive white mark on the left side of its rostrum, seen in this photo. The tentative ID is Whale #4092, a female of unknown age that was sighted off Fernandina on two days in mid-December and then not again until today. We saw her from the Air Cam off New Smyrna in February 2010. Since then, she has acquired massive scars on her peduncle and flukes, not evident in our photos from shore.

Following the whales south along the Marineland boardwalk, Kevin called again to report a fourth whale to the north of the others. As this sighting came level with the boardwalk, we counted another two whales, bringing our total to five. Although the clouds hampered visibility somewhat, no one who came out to see this first sighting of the season went away disappointed. Will we see them tomorrow? We know that Thursday's teams will give it their best shot. Stay tuned!

Right Whale Updates and A Benefit Raffle

First Right Whale Calf in the SEUS

The first calf of the season was spotted on December 20^th by the Georgia aerial survey team offshore from Talbot Island. The mother is Whale #2040, named Naevus. Although we have not seen her in our area, the acoustic research team recorded her and her previous calf in February 2011, north of the St. Augustine Inlet. To date, eight right whales have been identified in the SE US, spotted off Fernandina Beach and areas to the north. Wind, rain and fog have grounded aerial surveys for the last week and the whales could be moving south by now, so keep those eyes peeled when you are along the coast!

Art Show Opening Includes Benefit for Project

In conjunction with the art show opening reception for photographic artist Bob Carlsen, Ocean Books & Art will raffle a 16” X 20” matted and framed print of “Dawn at Flagler Pier” to benefit the Marineland Right Whale Project. It all takes place this Friday, 3 January, 5:30 to 8:30 PM across from the Flagler Beach Pier. Hope to see you there!

Happy New Year to All!

First Right Whale Report in Jacksonville

Last Friday, a Navy vessel reported six right whales very near the mouth of the St. Johns River. Following up, we learned that no photos were taken to verify the sighting and no other sightings have been reported in the area. Yesterday, staff at Marineland Dolphin Adventure spotted a whale close to shore that definitely had a dorsal fin, possibly a humpback.

So, while the sightings and species have not been verified, we could be seeing the start of whales arriving to our coastline. We have readied our response bags and cameras just in case. Time to dust off those binoculars and turn your eyeballs toward the ocean whenever you are at the beach! Call the Right Whale Hotline 1-888-97-WHALE (1-888-979-4253) if you spot one.

2013-14 Season Schedule

The recent cooler temperatures are inspiring us to get ready for the whales! Season #14 will arrive soon and we have our schedule in place. See below.

The summer was an unusual one for Northern right whales. They were largely absent from their normal summer feeding grounds in the Bay of Fundy. To learn more, see the New England Aquarium’s research blog at http://rightwhales.neaq.org/. Joy spent August and half of September with the NEAq team in Lubec, ME, surveying for right whales in the Bay of Fundy, and wrote one of the blog entries.

In December, we will offer Introductory Talks in Ormond Beach, Palm Coast, Flagler Beach, and St. Augustine Beach. The Training Class is scheduled 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 2013-14 SEASON

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!):

Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2013

1:00 PM to 2:30 PM

Flagler County Public Library

2500 Palm Coast Parkway, NW

Palm Coast

Saturday, Dec. 7, 2013

10:00 AM to 11:30 AM

Ormond Beach Public Library

30 S. Beach St.

Ormond Beach

Saturday, Dec. 7, 2013

3:00 PM to 4:30 PM

Anastasia Island Branch

St. Johns County Public Library

124 Sea Grove Main St.,

St. Augustine Beach

Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013

6:00 PM to 7:30 PM

Ocean Books & Art

200 S. Oceanshore Blvd.

Flagler Beach

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

Saturday, Jan. 4, 2014

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. 5, 2014

Surveys End:

Saturday, March 15, 2014

celebrating the return of Right Whales to our waters

The 5^th Annual Right Whale Festival will be held on Saturday, 23 November, 2013 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm at the Sea Walk Pavilion in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. The festival includes a beach clean-up, live music, kids’ activities, arts & crafts, exhibits, including Marine Resources Council and Marineland Right Whale Project, a silent auction and a beach run. Please visit www.rightwhalefestival.org for more information.

End-Of-Season Report

Right Whale Sightings

In the Southeast region, from South Carolina to NE Florida, the final number of mother/calf pairs sighted was 19. About 21 other whales were also identified, bringing the total to about 59 right whales sighted in the Southeast for this season. Including the mother/calf pair in Cape Cod, having 20 calves born was a welcome improvement from the seven of last season. Missing from the Southeast were the large numbers of juvenile whales that had been making the journey in previous seasons, with the exception of last year. Where they spent the winter is not fully understood.

The relationship between sea surface temperatures and right whale movements continued into the latter half of our season. The area of colder water around 16˚C never developed further south than Jacksonville. Plotting right whale sightings in the Southeast for the several days around 1 February (generally the coldest days of the season), revealed that most of the whales were located around the Florida/Georgia border. A similar pattern was observed in 1999, also a warm winter. It remains to be seen if warmer winters and alterations in right whale distribution are related to climate change. Our work is becoming more challenging.

The Marineland Right Whale Project had ten sightings, a below average number for us, but far better than the two of last season. Eight were of mother/calf pairs and included five different females with their calves. Observing 25% of the total number of mothers and calves in the Project’s study area is about average, with the exception of last year, when all of the mother/calf pairs remained well to the north.

The other two sightings consisted of a pair of juveniles on 23 January and a single right whale that moved through Daytona Beach so rapidly on 8 February that we were unable to take photos to identify it. In addition, there was the 2-year-old entangled male that came ashore on 19 December.

Humpback Whale Sightings

Throughout the season, we responded to humpback whale reports or spotted them from the Air Cam. We positively identified six as humpbacks, including three from the Air Cam. Six more we listed as probable, based on behavior and descriptions from surveyors and others present. In previous seasons, humpbacks were more likely to been seen in December/early January and March/April rather than throughout the season. They appeared to be juveniles. Comparing notes and photos with our colleagues at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, we learned that some of the humpbacks were seen more than once along the Florida coast. Perhaps, these whales are remaining in the Southeast US instead of migrating to their wintering habitat on Silver Bank near the Dominican Republic? More investigation is warranted.

Shore Surveys

In ten weeks (and a total of 70 days), the nine teams compiled 1,814 survey hours. Thanks to all for the diligent recording of environmental conditions during surveys.

Human Impacts

On 5 February, several people used paddle boards to closely approach Whale #1612 and her calf, who bore scars from a recent vessel strike. Thankfully, no one was injured. Concerned about the potential danger to humans and the impact of harassment to the whales, we met with both Flagler Beach City and Flagler County Law Enforcement, reviewing the 500 yard no-approach rule and emphasizing the human safety issue. We encountered a very positive response. We are now looking at ways to reach the board sports community.