February 4, 2026 — At 4 p.m. on Jan. 20, new squiggles emerged on Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) Senior Scientist Mark Baumgartner’s computer screen. Two years since it was deployed, Savannah’s acoustic buoy finally made its first detection: two contact calls from a North Atlantic Right Whale (NARW).
The calls sound like a questioning “huhhh?” or “hmmm?” pitched low to high, about two seconds each and seconds apart, intended to signal one’s identity to another NARW. While Baumgartner didn’t hear it, the calls were visualized by two small upticks on a frequency graph.
“We were very happy to see it,” said Baumgartner.
Soon after the detection, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) created a voluntary slow zone in the Southeast U.S., alerting ships to slow to 10 knots or less within 15 or so nautical miles of the buoy, bobbing on the surface about 30 miles southeast of Tybee. Ten knots should give enough time for NARW females and their calves to scurry out of the way, said Baumgartner.