Volunteers who watch for critically endangered North Atlantic right whales off the coast of Volusia and Flagler counties during the winter are hoping they’ll still see a few of the giant creatures.
None have been spotted so far. However, a recent sighting of two whales along Georgia's coast has increased optimism the whales may soon be seen here.
After a grim season last year with few sightings of the whales during the annual winter calving season off the Florida and Georgia coasts, and a deadly summer for the whales in their feeding grounds off Canada and New England, whale watchers weren’t sure what to expect this winter.
Weeks have passed with no sightings at all. Then last week, near the middle of the season, two right whales were spotted off St. Simons Island, Georgia. One of those, "Halo," is a female seen off the Florida coast several times before. Whale watch volunteers and experts alike are hoping she’s pregnant again and about to deliver.
“We’re hoping she’ll show up here,” said Jeff Majewski, a volunteer with Marineland’s Right Whale Project, who’s out on the beach every morning. “We’ve been looking.”
Volunteer Paul Eckstein noted Halo had given birth to a calf when she was here in 2014. "We’re hoping there’s another one coming," he said.
No calves have been spotted at the midway point of the season.
One right whale was seen in January in a very unlikely — but not unheard of — location. The whale was spotted in the Gulf of Mexico off Panama City. It was the sixth time a right whale had been spotted in the Gulf, and the first time since 2006.
To Julie Albert, coordinator of the Marine Resource Council's right whale hotline, it was a little surprising the whale made it all the way around Florida without a single sighting. Since then, the whale has been seen off the coast of Naples.
Four whales were seen off the coast of Virginia in January. But no whales have been spotted by volunteer spotters or the professionals that fly aerial surveys over the water, such as the Marineland Right Whale Project or the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said Albert. Whale researchers identify whales by the patches of skin on their heads.
Other than the few scattered sightings, the news about right whales has been mostly grim for months.
On Jan. 27, a dead right whale was found off the coast of Virginia Beach. It was the first whale death of 2018 but the 18th right whale death reported since last April. For a critically endangered species with less than 450 animals, the loss of nearly 5 percent of the population could be devastating, especially given the few new calves reported last winter.
Since 2015, scientists have watched the birth rate go down and the death rate go up among right whales, said Albert. With the number of breeding females estimated at around 105, without significant additional protections, scientists fear the breeding females could be wiped out within 23 years, Albert said. "You can’t come back from extinction.”
“We think the whales aren’t finding food where they have normally found food in the past,” she said. “They’re not as healthy as they used to be and they’re not getting pregnant.”
In the past, the whales were giving birth every three to five years, but the females that gave birth last year averaged 10-year intervals, Albert said.
The whale found dead off the coast of Virginia last month was a 39-foot long juvenile female. An examination by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, charged with protecting the animals, found the whale had died after being entangled in fishing gear.
The 10-year-old whale, who was just reaching breeding age, had previously survived an entanglement when she was three years old. She was last seen on July 29 in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and was not entangled. Researchers from the University of North Carolina, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Virginia Aquarium, NOAA and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission participated in the necropsy.
Of 17 dead whales reported last summer, 12 were found in Canadian waters in the Gulf of St. Lawrence between June and September. An additional five dead whales were discovered off New England. Of the seven whales in Canada that could be examined, five were attributed to blunt force trauma, such as the kind of trauma that occurs when a whale is struck by a ship. Two of the whales were entangled in fishing gear. One of the whales found off New England also died as a result of blunt force trauma. A cause of death couldn't be determined for the other four whales.
For local whale watchers the right whale deaths have been “very sad,” said Eckstein, of Flagler Beach. “It’s really sad because last year they only had a few calves, and then they lost 18 whales, so that’s a loss,” he said. “They’ve got to do something about the ships and their speed coming into port."
Scientists surmised the whales moved into the Gulf of St. Lawrence last summer looking for food. They were more typically seen in the Bay of Fundy off the coast of the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
In late January, Canada's department of Fisheries and Oceans announced additional rules for snow crab fishing to try to prevent entanglements. The department previously enacted boat speed rules in the Gulf of St. Lawrence to try to prevent ship strikes.
In the United States, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Fisheries department has undertaken a number of recovery efforts, including a ship strike reduction plan. NOAA also is working closely Canadian officials to investigate the whale deaths.
To report a whale sighting, call 1-888-979-4253.
For more information on seasonal ship speed restrictions in the United States, visit http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/shipstrike/
For updates on the investigation into the whale deaths, visit http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/health/mmume/2017northatlanticrightwhaleume.html
For updates in Canada, visit http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/science/environmental-environnement/narightwhale-baleinenoirean