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Many right whale calves born this year
Banner Daily Update Tues. Apr. 22
PROVINCETOWN — Three mother-and-calf pairs have been sighted in the crowd of right whales visiting Cape Cod Bay right now, but that's just a fraction of the good news. Nineteen calves altogether were born this year.
The number is encouraging for a population listed as critically endangered. Only 325-350 North Atlantic right whales are left in the world.
"We've been on a bit of an upswing the past couple of years," said Christin Khan, flight coordinator for the right whale aerial survey program at the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies. A low point was hit in 2000, when only one calf was born, but the following year saw 31 new additions to the right whale population. In 2006 and 2007 the numbers were more in line with this year's calf count of 19.
Not all of the baby whales survive, however, and Khan said of this year's batch two already have been "lost."
"We all hold our breath 'til they get to be about eight or 10, and then we relax a little bit," she said.
The newborn whales have been sighted primarily in the southeast, in the right whale calving grounds off the coasts of Florida and Georgia. The first new calf was spotted in December and the last new calf was documented on April 4.
The mom-and-calf pairs sighted in Cape Cod Bay include right whale no. 2790 and her baby, and right whale no. 1245, nicknamed "Slalom," and her calf. Slalom is 26 years old and has given birth to four calves, including this one.
Less information was available about the third mom and calf pair, but Khan said all of them seemed to be doing fine.
"The moms and calves are still together, which is always reassuring after the big journey from the southeast," she said.
It's been an exciting few weeks for right whale researchers. Record numbers of the rare mammal -- the rarest large whale on the planet -- have been seen feeding in the bay, and Khan said as of Friday they were still seeing 50 to 70 whales on their aerial surveys.
Lots of whales, however, translates into lots of work. The whales are photographed and those photographs are taken back to the Center for Coastal Studies offices and studied. Each right whale has a distinctive pattern of cornified skin on its body, and by analyzing the images researchers are able to identify each individual.
"We are up to 63 different individuals in Cape Cod Bay but we have barely begun to get through our data from last week," Khan said. "So I'm sure we will be discovering a whole new pod of whales."
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Apr 17th, 2008