Courtesy of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
HYANNIS – Southern researchers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission have spotted two more North Atlantic right whale calves.
The calves are the fifth and sixth reported during the current birthing season for the critically endangered species which has an estimated population of around 400.
The 19-year-old Harmony was spotted with a calf 11 miles off Jacksonville. It was her fourth calf with the last being born in 2016.
Halo, a 15-year-old, and her calf were sighted off Crescent Beach, Florida. This is Halo’s second calf. The first was born in 2014.
Right whales have started to arrive in Cape Cod Bay for the season. An aerial surveillance team spotted the first two on January 6.
The Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown reports that 10 right whales were spotted in the bay by aerial surveillance on January 18.
There were 60 right whales documented off Nantucket on January 22 and 22 right whales spotted in Cape Cod Bay on January 24.
The critically endangered whales visit the bay each winter and spring to feed on rich blooms of microscopic zooplankton.
Between December 2018 and May 2019, researchers identified 268 individual whales in the bay, about two-thirds of the entire population.
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