See video of first endangered North Atlantic right whale calf spotted this season
A rare glimmer of hope for one of the world’s most endangered whale species was spotted off the coast of Georgia.
Drone footage taken Wednesday, Dec. 7, roughly 11 nautical miles off St. Catherine’s Sound caught a glimpse of the season’s first known North Atlantic right whale calf and its mother, according to a Facebook post from the Georgia Department of Natural Resource’s Wildlife Resources Division.
The calf was spotted by researchers with the Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Florida. A boat crew with the Georgia DNR was nearby and was able to collect “a skin sample from the calf for genotyping” and to film the pair.
The footage captured by the department shows the calf emerge from the blue-green water before spouting and flipping onto its back as it swims alongside its mother, whom researchers have nicknamed Medusa.
Medusa “was first sighted in 1981 and is at least 41 years old,” wildlife officials wrote. “This is her 7th known calf.”
Another mother and calf pair were spotted the next day off Georgia’s Little St. Simons Island, according to a Facebook post from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Wildlife Research Institute.
The mother, nicknamed Archipelago, is at least 20 years old, officials said. This is her third known calf.
Officials said “several potential mothers” that have previously given birth were also spotted this month. Researchers said they “hope to see them with new calves soon.”
The sightings are a rare bout of good news for the species against a backdrop of bleak population trends.
“Most recent population models show that the numbers are declining again for various reasons including a slow reproduction rate, threats from entanglement in fishing gear, collisions with large vessels, and possibly other factors not yet identified,” Dr. James Powell, president and executive director of the Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute said in a news release.
Fewer than 350 North Atlantic right whales, and fewer than 100 breeding females, remain, scientists estimate.
About the endangered species
The whales have been listed as endangered since 1970, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Commercial whaling brought the species to the brink of extinction in the late 19th century.
Whaling has long since been eliminated as a threat. But the species never recovered from the decimation to its numbers, despite efforts from conservationists to revitalize them, NOAA said.
The whales also continue to face threats from vessel strikes, fishing gear and “increasing ocean noise levels from human activities,” which interferes with the animals’ ability to communicate.
Meanwhile, the “number of new calves born in recent years has been below average.”
Every birth, however, “is hope for the species,” the Clearwater Marine Aquarium said.
Calving season for the species runs from mid-November to mid-April.
“Each fall, some right whales travel more than 1,000 miles from their feeding areas in the waters off New England and Canada to the shallow, coastal waters of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and northeastern Florida,” NOAA said in a 2022 news release. “The southeastern United States is the only known area where right whales regularly give birth and nurse their young.”
This is an especially vulnerable time for the species, NOAA said, as “mom and calf pairs spend the majority of their time at, or near the water’s surface.” The agency urged all mariners to “slow down, stay alert, and give these whales plenty of room.”
This story was originally published December 11, 2022 at 1:50 PM with the headline "See video of first endangered North Atlantic right whale calf spotted this season."
