Eg No 1802, Legato, and 2024 Calf of 1802, photographed north of Marshfield, MA, April 1, 2024 by the Center for Coastal Studies Aerial Survey Team. NOAA Permit 25740-02.
PROVINCETOWN – The Center for Coastal Studies announced that members of its aerial observation team spotted a North Atlantic right whale mother and her calf in the waters off the coast of Marshfield, marking the first right whale calf sighting in state waters of the 2024 season.
First spotted in Florida, the calf is the fifth documented calf of the 36-year-old “Legato,” one of which passed away in 2006, while another is presumed dead.
According to right whale experts, the journey up the Atlantic coast to Cape Cod Bay is an arduous one for whales and their calves, in which the mother nurses the calf but does not feed until reaching their destination.
The mother-calf pair joins over 120 right whales already spotted this year in Cape Cod Bay, which hosts one of the endangered species’ largest feeding groups during winter and early spring, a figure representing over a third of their total remaining numbers.
“Cape Cod Bay is a very significant place for right whales to bring their calves,” said Dr. Charles “Stormy” Mayo, Director of the Center’s Right Whale Ecology Program. “Here they find protected, calmer waters, and an abundance of food. It must be a relief, no wonder they hang out here for days or weeks.”
Right whale researchers and activists are currently pushing for the increase of right whale protections, in an effort to restore their dwindling numbers.
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