Saving Right Whales
Just two weeks ago, Wildlife Trust's 2009-2010 North Atlantic right whale aerial survey season officially came to an end. Right whales that were in the waters off South Carolina, Georgia and Florida have started to migrate north to their feeding grounds off New England and Canada. Coinciding with this departure, Wildlife Trust aerial survey teams based in Charleston, SC and St. Simons Island, GA packed up their equipment and started their migrations on to new adventures (some team members following the whales northern route.) From November through April, Wildlife Trust survey teams were working hard to document the movements and numbers of right whales that come to the southeastern U.S. to give birth to their calves and socialize each winter.
Wildlife Trust has spent the last nine years trying to learn as much as possible about right whales that make the waters off South Carolina, Georgia and Florida their home for part of the year. The North Atlantic right whale population is estimated to be only around 438 individuals, making it one of the most endangered large whales in the world. Every day the weather permitted, Wildlife Trust teams were in the air flying aerial surveys searching for these right whales in the waters from the South Carolina/North Carolina border to southern Georgia and 30 miles offshore. The teams recorded the whales' behaviors and photographed them to identify individuals. The locations of the whales were sent to various maritime interests in order to avoid ship strikes, one of the main causes of mortality in North Atlantic right whales. During the 2009 -2010 aerial survey season, a large portion of the North Atlantic right whale population was seen in the southeast. Wildlife Trust's survey team based in South Carolina sighted 58 individual right whales. The Georgia team sighted 77 individuals. In total, all the private and state research groups working in the southeast documented at least 220 individual right whales from South Carolina to Florida, meaning more than half of the population had made the long migration from the northeastern U.S. down to the shallow, warm waters of the southeast.
Overall, both the South Carolina and Georgia survey teams found considerably fewer right whales this season than the previous banner 2008-2009 season. During the previous season, 95 and 190 individual right whales were sighted by the South Carolina and Georgia teams respectively. The decrease in sightings between seasons may be explained by the very windy weather this season hampering the teams' efforts and also the very cold temperatures in the southeast this winter causing a majority of the whales to move further south to the warmer waters off Florida.
Despite the reduction in the number of right whales sighted, this past season still presented some very interesting sightings. In February, the South Carolina team found a surface-active group of five whales off of Savannah, Georgia. After identifying the individual right whales using unique markings on the top of the whales' heads, the team learned that two of the five whales in the group were brothers. Additionally, one of the brothers' siblings was seen only a few miles away during the same survey. In general, right whales are not known to form long-term associations with relatives, except for the first year that calves stay with their mothers. To make things even more interesting, the known mother of the three siblings has never been documented in the southeast. Each year, a majority of the pregnant right whale females travel to the southeast to give birth to their calves. During this season, 19 females were seen in the southeast with newborn calves. Last season a record number of 39 newborn calves were documented. However, some of the females that are known to have given birth have never been seen in the southern calving grounds. It still remains a mystery as to where these females are giving birth to their calves. This is one of the many mysteries that still surround the distribution and behaviors of North Atlantic right whales.
For the Georgia survey team, the 2009-2010 season presented some very happy sightings of whales that had been in dire circumstances during the previous season. Along with ship strikes, entanglements in fishing gear are another major cause of mortality for North Atlantic right whales. During the 2008-2009 season, five whales entangled in fishing gear were sighted in the southeast. Many of the whales were carrying 300 to 500 feet of line wrapped around and trailing behind their bodies. Throughout last season, the Georgia survey team worked with a variety of agencies (on-the-water and in-the-air) to disentangle these whales. By the end of March 2009, it was believed that all five of the whales were gear-free through the use of on-the-water techniques to cut and remove fishing gear that have been developed over many years. However, for any whale that has been entangled, it is necessary to document every part of the whale to make sure that no entanglement remains. For three of these five whales, the final confirmation of their gear-free status would not come until the 2009-2010 season. These three whales were seen again in the southeast this past
December to February without any of the extensive lines of fishing gear encircling and trailing behind their bodies. For the survey teams, this type of good news is one of the many aspects that makes the six to seven hour daily flights worthwhile.
Many questions still surround the distribution and behavior of North Atlantic right whales. Wildlife Trust plans to continue to study and monitor these very rare whales in the coming years. Hopefully, with continued efforts, a greater understanding of these fascinating animals will be gained and survival for the species will be obtained.
North Atlantic right whales need your help - please make a donation to help Wildlife Trust save this endangered species.
