Visit our Program webpage for current information about
the North Atlantic Right Whale Program.


The Marine Resources Council's Right Whale Monitoring Program was established in 1995 to reduce human impacts to the endangered North Atlantic right whale. Citizens on the east coast of Florida report land‑based sightings of right whales to our hotline (1‑888‑97‑WHALE). This information is passed on to local ship traffic to avoid ship strikes, which account for over one‑third of documented right whale deaths in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

#1301: Another Underweight Calf


Right whale #1301 with her 2012 calf.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, NOAA Research Permit #15488

Right whale #1301 and her new calf were recently spotted on  Feb. 9th  about 7.5 miles east of Amelia Island, FL.  At no more than 6-1/2 weeks old, her 6th calf appears to be underweight.  Unfortunately, to see an underweight calf for this mom isn't unexpected.   A history of unhealthy calves has plagued this particular mom.  She gave birth to her first calf in 1989 and it survived for about a year.  After a long break, she gave birth to her second calf, #3301, in 2003 - the only one to survive of the first 5 calves.  Her subsequent calves born in 2006, 2008, and 2012 all died as well.  The photo here is of #1301 and her 2012 calf, also underweight before it died.  The new calf's health will be monitored and time will tell if this one survives.

#3301, her calf from 2003, is a male named Neptune.  He is now 11 years old, of reproductive age, and was last spotted in Feb. 2012 off South Carolina.
Posted by at

Injured Whale Spotted Again

The injured yearling spotted off Sebastian Inlet on January 21st was spotted by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources aerial survey team on Feb. 10th.  The whale was located about 18.5 miles east of Blackbeard Island, GA.  So, after cruising quickly south in January, the whale has turned and headed back north.  The wounds at the base of the tail flukes are showing signs of healing, but the whale appears to be underweight.  Photographs of the right flipper are still necessary to determine if the whale is currently entangled.
Posted by at

Sunday, February 2, 2014

First Right Whale in Brevard County in Two Years!


On Tuesday, January 21st, MRC received a call on the hotline from Corey and Casey Langle from Melbourne Beach. MRC was expecting the call, as the Marineland Right Whale Project had spotted an injured yearling (believed to be 2013 calf of #3294) off Daytona Beach Shores just 2 days earlier, and headed quickly south.  Around 12:30pm, MRC confirmed the injured yearling off Sebastian Inlet, still being elusive and still traveling very quickly south.  We last saw the whale off the McClarty Treasure Museum in Vero Beach, but not before securing photos. Many thanks to Ed Perry at the museum for photographing the whale (shown here), as well as Jim and "D" Voeste who photographed the whale from the Sebastian Inlet jetty. Without your help, we wouldn't have gotten crucial information on the ID of the animal, as well as documentation of the injury.  Thank you so much!

As of this posting, the location of the whale is unknown.

To view the news of this animal on the Marineland Right Whale Blog from a couple days before we saw the whale, go to http://marinelandrightwhale.blogspot.com/2014/01/survey-team-5-gets-first-whale-sighting.html


Posted by at
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)