Two Critically Endangered North Atlantic Right Whale Calves Are Spotted Off U.S. Coast

North Atlantic right whale Chiminea swims with her new calf off Cumberland Island in Georgia on Dec. 4, 2020. Clearwater Marine Aquarium / NOAA Fisheries Southeast Like most of us, North Atlantic right whales have not had a very good 2020. First, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) report found that there were no more than 366 of the critically endangered species left. Then, the first known baby born this calving season washed up dead on a North Carolina beach. But things are finally starting to look up. Two live right whale calves were spotted off the coasts of Georgia and Florida within the last week. "Uplifting news for this fragile species especially during the first week of December," Melanie White, a Clearwater Marine Aquarium research biologist and North Atlantic Right Whale Conservation Project Manager, told USA TODAY . An aerial survey team from Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute (CMARI) spotted the first calf Dec. 4 off of Cumberland Island in Georgia. "During our third survey of the season, CMARI aerial observer Marcy Lee sighted a whale. She knew in that moment it was a North Atlantic right whale calf. The first large whale of the season and […]

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