Researchers spotted the first mother and calf pair of North Atlantic right whales off the coast of South Carolina on Friday, marking the start of the winter calving season.
The calf and mother were identified by an aerial survey team from Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute. This is the second calf for the 17-year-old North Atlantic right whale known as Champagne.
Nora Ives is a marine scientist on the North Atlantic Right Whale Campaign for Oceana, an advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. With a population of about 380 animals, she says every calf born is a reason to celebrate.
"It’s incredible that Champagne has had her second calf," said Ives. "She is the daughter of the most prolific female in the population. So, it’s great. Hopefully she’s passing along those successful genes now."
While their calving grounds are off the coast of the Carolinas and Florida, there are still North Atlantic Right Whales off Massachusetts this time of year. A whale known as Cashew was spotted nursing her year-old calf just south of Nantucket last week.
Ives says it’s important to keep boat speeds under 10 knots to protect the whales that are still here.
“There’s actually a slow zone in place in Cape Cod Bay through December 14th," she said. "So, that just means that we’ve seen them, actually visually, and heard them."
There are only around 70 breeding females in the population, and Ives says nursing females and their calves need to stay near the surface to catch their breath.
