SAVANNAH, GEORGIA — The North Atlantic right whale migration southward is underway.
Since the first right whale report of the season — Harmonia, a right whale commonly seen in Cape Cod Bay — was spotted by fishermen Nov. 23 off Mayport, Fla., biologists have confirmed seeing four more potential right whale “moms.”
Only 409 North Atlantic right whales remain. Right whales travel along the Atlantic coast annually, spending time in warmer Georgia and Florida waters to calve and nurse. They spend late winter and early spring in and and around Cape Cod Bay to feed and socialize before heading northward to Canadian waters for the summer months.
The winter tracking of right whales that may be pregnant — typically off Georgia and Florida — is part of a U.S. and Canadian government effort to stop any further drop in their population, which is considered nearing possible extinction.
Deaths, mainly from ship strikes and entanglement in fishing rope, have outpaced births of these bus-sized creatures recently. Biologists have recorded 30 right whale deaths over the last three years and only 12 births.
“We’re going backwards here,” said Barb Zoodsma, right whale biologist for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries’ Southeast region.
That first known arrival from the feeding grounds off New England and Canada to the Georgia and Florida calving grounds was a 19-year-old female nicknamed Harmonia. Records indicate she last gave birth in 2016.
She was first seen in Cape Cod Bay in 2007, and since then she has been spotted in the bay nearly every year since including this year, according to the records of the New England Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life.
“She is a fan of our waters,” research assistant Marianna Hagbloom of the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life said. Prior to being seen in the bay, she was also seen in the Great South Channel, in Massachusetts Bay and south of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. In 2009, Harmonia, technically known as right whale No. 3101, brought her first calf into Cape Cod Bay but that calf was found dead in July 2010 after being hit by a ship. Her second calf, known as Gully, was born in 2016. That calf survived a severe entanglement but was left with a deep head wound, the records indicated.
The other four whales spotted include “Naevus,” who was seen off Ossabaw Island, Georgia. “Harmony,” “Arpeggio,” and “Slalom” were spotted off South Carolina.
With North Atlantic right whales on the move along the Atlantic coast, NOAA is cautioning boaters to give these endangered whales plenty of space and to be vigilant while underway to avoid accidental collisions with whales.
“We try to emphasize that vessels as small as 35 feet are capable of killing a right whale calf,” Zoodsma said.
Although whales are large they are tough to see.
“Right whales often swim and rest just below the surface, and are invisible to approaching boats and ships,” said wildlife biologist Clay George of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. “It’s important for operators of ships and large yachts to follow vessel speed rules, and for boaters to slow down whenever possible.”
North Atlantic right whales are protected under the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Scientists estimate there are 100 breeding females left. The early arrival of five females is heartening.
“We know pregnant females are the first to arrive in the calving area,” Zoodsma said. “The animals we spotted we know are reproductive females. I’m optimistic we may have a couple stork events.”
She’d like to see 20-30 births this year to help boost the population. It’s not unheard of. As recently as 2008-2009, the whales saw a record 39 births.
The arrival of the whales coincides with Whale Week in Savannah, a grassroots effort to make people aware of the plight of the North Atlantic right whale.
Source: provincetown.wickedlocal.com
