Endangered whales -- one a first-time mom -- spotted with calves off Florida

Olivia Lloyd, The Charlotte Observer on Jan 2, 2025

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Two rare female whales have been documented off the coast of Florida, each with a calf, marine surveyors said.

The 20-year-old whale mothers, named Blackheart and Caterpillar, were seen Dec. 30 near Ponte Vedra Beach, a suburb of Jacksonville, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Research Institute.

It’s Caterpillar’s first baby and the second for Blackheart, who last gave birth 12 years ago, the FWC said.

While biologists celebrate the calves of the highly endangered species, with an estimated 370 left in the wild, these births are evidence of a worrying phenomenon of right whales giving birth less often than in the past, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says.

“Three years is considered a normal or healthy interval between right whale births,” according to NOAA. “But now, females are having calves every seven to 10 years, on average. Biologists believe that the stress caused by entanglement in fishing gear and collisions with boats and ships is one of the reasons that females are calving less often or not at all.”

For years, whale watchers have been calling Caterpillar a potential mother. But she’s been hit by at least one vessel, which gave her a long scar on one side that biologists worried would make it harder for her to accommodate a pregnancy. Another female with a similar scar died during pregnancy, the FWC said in 2020.

Caterpillar and Blackheart have both been seen swimming in the Southeast waters for about a month before they were spotted with calves, surveyors said.

But they’re not the first whales to travel to Florida with their babies this calving season. Another female right whale with a calf was documented near Amelia Island on Dec. 9, McClatchy News previously reported.

This time of year, the FWC advises boaters to look out for right whales, which keep a “low profile” and sometimes don’t make much disturbance on the surface of the water.