Oh, baby! First right whale calf of season spotted in Cape Cod Bay

Eric Williams  Cape Cod Times

Mar 5, 2021 

There's a baby in Cape Cod Bay! Not to worry, though: It's the first North Atlantic right whale calf of the season.

An aerial surveillance team from the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown spotted the wee cetacean on Wednesday, in the company of its mom, known to researchers as "Millipede." According to a press release from the center, the calf is believed to be about three months old and already has a few miles under its belt.

“By any accounting, this little whale has already beaten the odds,” said Dr. Charles “Stormy” Mayo, director of the CCS Right Whale Ecology Program, in the release. “To reach Cape Cod Bay, Millipede and her calf, the hope for the future of this critically endangered species, had to complete a perilous 1200-mile journey through busy coastal waters. They are now in a small bay that is relatively safe from threats, but in weeks or days they will leave the protected confines of the bay and continue their travels north in more risky waters.”

The duo is a bit ahead of schedule. “We weren’t expecting to sight a mom-calf pair this early in our season since we typically first see them arrive in late March/early April," said Brigid McKenna, Center for Coastal Studies right whale researcher and aerial observer, in the release.

And the whale bambino seems to be doing well. “(The) calf appeared to be quite healthy and independent — it spent more than 40 minutes far from its mother, which is something we do not see often at this age,” said McKenna. 

On the same day, the aerial survey team spotted 57 right whales in Cape Cod Bay and over 100 have been seen this season. The entire population of the critically endangered species is estimated at 356 individuals, and ship strikes and entanglements are always a risk.

“The large number of right whales that have entered Cape Cod Bay, combined with the sighting of the first mother/calf pair of the year, demonstrates what we have seen over the last several decades, the increasing importance of Cape Cod Bay as a feeding and nursery ground for the last right whales,” Mayo said in the release.