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Right Whale Season Recap
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2019 Right Whale Season Recap
The calving season for North Atlantic right whales has wrapped up, and the results are a mixed bag, according to GADNR senior wildlife biologist Clay George. Surveys this winter off the Georgia/north Florida coast — the only known calving grounds for the imperiled species — documented seven calves. That’s a whale of an improvement over winter 2017-2018, when for the first time in three decades of monitoring no calves were seen. But the season still fell far shy of the 15 to 20 calves needed to sustain the population.
The count won’t be finalized until fall, as researchers continue searching for additional calves this spring and summer where the whales feed off New England and Canada. George, who leads right whale research and monitoring for the DNR, said he’s hopeful survey teams missed some calves in the Southeast this winter, particularly with the partial government shutdown grounding some flights in January. “Every calf counts,” he added.
Calf counts — and the right whale population in general — have been trending downward since 2010. The estimated number of right whales has fallen from approximately 475 to 425 in the past five years. The recovery of the species faces significant hurdles; namely, ship strikes, entanglement in commercial fishing rope and warming ocean temperatures that are shifting the distribution of zooplankton on which the whales feed in New England and Canada.
Survey flights in the Southeast will resume this December.
For more on the GADNR’s conservation work with right whales and other nongame wildlife, visit georgiawildlife.com/conservation/annualreport.
2019 Right Whale Season Recap
Background photo: Two adult female right whales traveling together 20 miles southeast of Tybee Island, Ga., on Dec. 12, 2018. Right whale #2503,nicknamed Boomerang (below), is 23 years old and last calved in 2014. Her companion, #3808 “Magnet” (opposite page), is ten years old and has no prior calving history. A pair of adult female whales were a welcome sight following the 2018 season when zero calves were documented. Photo by Sea to Shore Alliance, taken under NOAA permit #20556-01
Photo above: North Atlantic right whale No. 2791 and her 2-week-old calf swim south about six miles east of Amelia Island on Jan. 7. The calf was born between Dec. 23 and 28, likely off the coast of Georgia or northeastern Florida. The mom, known by her photo-ID catalog number, is at least 22 years old. This is her third known calf. The photo was taken by whale researchers from the GADNR and Sea to Shore Alliance, federally permitted to be within the 500-yard protective zone around this endangered species. Photo by Georgia DNR, taken under NOAA Research Permit #20556-01
