Grounded

Since my last post a month ago, the South Carolina right whale aerial survey team has been battling some pretty foul weather including gale force winds, record rain fall and even a few inches of snow! The locals say it is the worst winter in quite some time. The days on the ground are frustrating for us as we know the whales are out there, but we can't fly to find and report them.

In spite of the weather, we have managed to fly seven surveys in the past month and locate eight more whales, including a female with her new calf! Seeing this little whale interact with its mother is inspiring and reminds us why we do this work. The southeast coast of the U.S. is the only known calving area for the endangered right whales, and also an area inundated by vessels, both large and small. We are "the eyes in the sky" locating and reporting their whereabouts to maritime traffic - a truly rewarding job in itself. Knowing that we can prevent a collision between whale and vessel is our main focus.

Many right whales are scarred from prior vessel encounters, and I must emphasize that they are the lucky ones. Other whales that encounter vessels do not fair nearly as well. Mortality from ship strikes is one reason this population is not recovering to its historic numbers. In late January, we found a whale with a new wound on its back. After talking with our colleagues at the New England Aquarium, it was determined that this particular whale must have acquired the wound between mid September, when it was last seen uninjured in the Bay of Fundy, and late January when we documented it off the S.C. coast. At this point, we cannot say what caused the wound, but we also cannot rule out a vessel strike. All we can do is hope this whale recovers quickly and is one of the lucky ones.

We are all hopeful the weather will cooperate soon so we can get back in the air to help these vulnerable whales.

Reporting from the skies off the coast of South Carolina, EcoHealth Alliance Right Whale Aerial Survey Team Leader, Dianna Schulte, works to save right whales.