January 28, 2019 — The future of the North American right whale remains perilous, but researchers following their progress see hope in three calves spotted so far this winter off the Florida coast.
“It’s a spark of hope,” said Philip Hamilton, a research scientist at the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium. “It’s not even quite to the point of guarded optimism.”
The massive marine mammals migrate in the winter from the waters off Maine and Canada to the waters off northern Florida and southeastern Georgia for a calving season. Considered critically endangered, their total population is estimated at 411 animals. After a deadly year in 2017, with 15 deaths, and no calves born during the 2017-2018 season, whale advocates and researchers had awaited this calving season with trepidation.
An aerial survey team from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute photographed the latest mother-calf pair, whale No. 1204 and her calf, on Jan. 17 off Amelia Island.
No. 1204 has been particularly prolific, giving birth to at least nine calves in her lifetime. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission researchers said she’s one of only three right whales known to have given birth to nine calves.