Endangered creature surfaces off MA coast, then mom appears. See ‘exciting’ photo
Researchers spotted a North Atlantic right whale mother and her calf off the coast of Massachusetts, marking the first regional calf sighting of the season.
“The first sighting of mother/calf pairs in Cape Cod Bay each season is always an exciting moment that brings hope for the species,” Daniel Palacios, director of the Center for Coastal Studies’ Right Whale Ecology Program, said in a March 11 news release.
Palacios said the observation “confirms successful calving” in the region, which is significant due to the right whales’ status as a critically endangered species.
“Every birth is vital for population recovery,” Palacios said.
According to the Center for Coastal Studies, there are fewer than 372 surviving North Atlantic right whales.
Ryan Schosberg, a right whale researcher at the center, said his team was on its last trip of the day when it saw the pair of whales.
“To our surprise, a relatively small animal surfaced,” Schosberg said in the release. “A few minutes later, the mother, who we identified as Nauset, surfaced next to the calf, as she took a brief pause from feeding beneath the surface.”
Nauset is a 31-year-old North Atlantic right whale who was first seen as a calf in 1994, researchers said. She has birthed a recorded five calves over the last two decades.
Cape Cod Bay is one of the most popular places for right whales to eat during winter and early spring, according to experts. Researchers at the Center for Coastal Studies have seen more than 80 right whales in the bay this year.
What to know about right whales
North Atlantic right whales were put on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List as a critically endangered species in July 2020.
At that time, the total population of the species had declined by approximately 15% since 2011, experts said.
Climate change, entanglement in fishing gear, lower reproduction rates and vessel strikes are all reasons the population has decreased, according to experts.
