Photo: FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute
VOLUSIA Cty, FL – Another newborn North Atlantic Right Whale calf has been spotted off the coast of Florida.
According to a social media post from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, the baby whale was spotted this week.
That’s the sixth calf born this season, which is good news for a species that saw at least 17 mortalities in 2017 and three last year.
Volunteers with the Marineland Right Whale Project’s shore-based survey verified the new mother-calf pair of North Peninsula State Park in Volusia County.
The Facebook post said this is the second calf for that female. Her first was in 2008-2009.
Last month, Center for Coastal Studies Researcher Charles “Stormy” Mayo said it was good news to hear that right whales are having calves again.
“My hope, and it’s a very deep hope, would be that there will turn out to be a lot more produced this calving year this winter,” Mayo said.
“You’ve got to produce calves and reduce the mortality, and if that happens then you are in a positive trend,” he previously said.
The trend since 2010 has been the opposite with very low birth rates and higher mortality rates.
The bulk of the right whale population spend the winter in Cape Cod Bay as pregnant females travel down to the area off Florida and Georgia.
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