North Atlantic right whale calving season kicks off with two babies seen off Georgia, Florida coast

Mary Landers Savannah Morning News 

Published Dec 8, 2020

Researchers spotted the first live right whale calf of the season off the coast of Cumberland Island Friday while surveying for them by plane. Then on Sunday researchers saw the second right whale baby just off the beach in north Florida.

The whale moms are nicknamed Chiminea and Millipede, the latter for the series of boat propeller scars down her back, said Georgia Department of Natural Resources Senior Biologist Clay George. 

“They're both well known animals,” he said. “In fact, you remember we did a satellite tagging project of a few years ago? Chiminea was one of the females that…we tagged during that study.”

Chiminea, 13, has not previously been seen with a calf.

“We have a first time mom!” the Southeast NOAA Fisheries tweeted.

Millipede, 16, gave birth once before.

A dead North Atlantic right whale calf washed ashore last month in North Carolina. A preliminary necropsy suggested the calf died during or shortly after birth and no humans were involved in the death, according to a statement from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Along with the mother/calf pairs, a fishing boat captain sighted two other whales off Tybee over the weekend. 

“They're scattered across the entire calving habitat at this point,” George said. “So people need to keep their eyes open when they're boating.

But since 2017, scientists have documented the deaths of 32 North Atlantic right whales, outpacing the known births. Entanglement in fishing gear and boat strikes are the leading causes of known right whale deaths in recent years. 

Only about 360 North Atlantic right whales remain.  

Right whales got their name from being the “right” whale to hunt because they swim slowly, stay close to shore and float when dead. They were hunted nearly to extinction but began a gradual comeback after hunting them was outlawed. In recent years, however, their slow population growth reversed.

The Southeast waters off Georgia and Florida are the whales’ only known calving grounds. Pregnant females come here in winter from the feeding grounds off New England and Canada to give birth.

The adults don’t eat while they’re here. They instead spend their time looking for water that’s not too warm for the blubber-covered mothers and not too cool for the skinnier newborns. The calves spend the winter and  early spring nursing and learning to swim well for their spring migration to the north.

During the 2019/2020 calving season there were 10 calves born, which was up from seven in the 2018/2019 season. But researchers say about 20 births a year and fewer deaths are needed for the long-term survival of the species.