First right whales of season spotted in area
Posted: December 20, 2012 - 12:00am
By Becki Smith, Marineland Right Whale Project
A pair of right whales sit off Crescent Beach on Wenesday.
The first North Atlantic right whales of the season have appeared off local beaches.
On Wednesday, a mother and her newborn calf were spotted off Crescent Beach, bringing the total number of calves born so far this season to seven.
Ron Ginn, a resident of A Street in Crescent Beach, sighted the pair of whales close to shore at noon Wednesday. He phoned the Marine Resources Counsel hotline and the information was relayed to the Marineland Right Whale Project’s survey Air Cam. The Air Cam was northbound on its survey and coincidentally was just approaching Crescent Beach.
Joy Hampp, Marineland Right Whale Project coordinator and survey pilot, said the mother and calf were just north of the State Road 206 bridge, no more than a quarter of a mile from the beach.
Both mother and calf appeared to be healthy, Hampp said.
The Air Cam was originally built for National Geographic research and photography in Africa and is used by Hampp and other scientists to observe and photograph whales farther off shore.
Late Tuesday, a dead right whale, estimated to be approximately a year old, washed up in Palm Coast. While the official cause of death will not be determined until a necropsy is performed, officials reported that it had a large rope wrapped around its tail.
The endangered North Atlantic right whales number an estimated 350 to 400. The pregnant whales travel from the Bay of Fundy to warmer waters in coastal areas of Georgia and Florida to give birth.
The early appearance of the right whales is encouraging to whale watchers after a dismal season that ended in February.
Hampp commented earlier that after an unusual season last year with record warm temperatures, a low number of right whale calves were born and only one right whale was sighted south of the St. Augustine Inlet.
“Although the official whale-watching survey is scheduled to begin in early January, the whales don’t always follow that calendar,” she said.
The volunteer sighting network, a collaboration of the Marineland Right Whale Project and the Marine Resources Council, has been in operation for more than a decade.
Several hundred volunteers provide monitoring and stewardship in the section from Ponte Vedra Beach south, where at least some of the whales come in close to shore. The combination of the shore spotters and the survey airplane has proven effective.
“It works because although there is a large area and few whales, there are many eyes,” said Jim Hain, the program’s chief scientist.
For information, call 461-4058 or email marinelandrightwhale@gmail.com.
On Wednesday, a mother and her newborn calf were spotted off Crescent Beach, bringing the total number of calves born so far this season to seven.
Ron Ginn, a resident of A Street in Crescent Beach, sighted the pair of whales close to shore at noon Wednesday. He phoned the Marine Resources Counsel hotline and the information was relayed to the Marineland Right Whale Project’s survey Air Cam. The Air Cam was northbound on its survey and coincidentally was just approaching Crescent Beach.
Joy Hampp, Marineland Right Whale Project coordinator and survey pilot, said the mother and calf were just north of the State Road 206 bridge, no more than a quarter of a mile from the beach.
Both mother and calf appeared to be healthy, Hampp said.
The Air Cam was originally built for National Geographic research and photography in Africa and is used by Hampp and other scientists to observe and photograph whales farther off shore.
Late Tuesday, a dead right whale, estimated to be approximately a year old, washed up in Palm Coast. While the official cause of death will not be determined until a necropsy is performed, officials reported that it had a large rope wrapped around its tail.
The endangered North Atlantic right whales number an estimated 350 to 400. The pregnant whales travel from the Bay of Fundy to warmer waters in coastal areas of Georgia and Florida to give birth.
The early appearance of the right whales is encouraging to whale watchers after a dismal season that ended in February.
Hampp commented earlier that after an unusual season last year with record warm temperatures, a low number of right whale calves were born and only one right whale was sighted south of the St. Augustine Inlet.
“Although the official whale-watching survey is scheduled to begin in early January, the whales don’t always follow that calendar,” she said.
The volunteer sighting network, a collaboration of the Marineland Right Whale Project and the Marine Resources Council, has been in operation for more than a decade.
Several hundred volunteers provide monitoring and stewardship in the section from Ponte Vedra Beach south, where at least some of the whales come in close to shore. The combination of the shore spotters and the survey airplane has proven effective.
“It works because although there is a large area and few whales, there are many eyes,” said Jim Hain, the program’s chief scientist.
For information, call 461-4058 or email marinelandrightwhale@gmail.com.
ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for
following agreed-upon rules of civility. Posts and
comments do not reflect the views of this site. Posts and comments are
automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some
comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules,
click the "Flag as offensive" link below the comment.
See Video of the Mother & Baby whale here
https://www.facebook.com/SouthEastSailingYachts
Comments (1)
Add comment