- January 8, 2025
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Two North Atlantic right whales were spotted off the coast of Flagler Beach on Sunday, Jan. 5. They are two of the approximately 370 whales left of their species.
The pair — 16-year-old Koala and 14-year-old Curlew — have been traveling together since late November 2024, when they were sighted off South Carolina. It's not unusual for a pair of female right whales to travel together, said Sara Ellis, senior researcher with the Marineland Right Whale Project, but she wouldn't say it's common either.
"It's very interesting to see how closely they travel together, so there's definitely a social bond between them, but what it means to them? We don't know," Ellis said. "But it's fascinating."
It's also unknown if either Koala or Curlew are pregnant. The waters between Florida and Georgia are the only known calving grounds for this critically endangered species, Ellis said. Pregnant female right whales migrate down here in the winter time, but small numbers of male and non-pregnant right whales do the same.
Typically, right whales are seen in the local waters from December through March, though right whale sightings have been reported as early as late November some years.
Boaters are urged to slow down and be on the lookout for them, as they can often be hard to see. Right whales have no dorsal fin and are slow moving.
The whales' main threats are being hit by vessels or becoming entangled in fishing gear. Ellis said over 85% of whales show signs of having been entangled. Last year, a calf washed up on Cumberland Island National Seashore in Georgia, a couple months after being sighted with propeller cuts and injuries to its head, mouth and lip, according to the Marineland Right Whale Report for 2024.
"Because they're so critically endangered, every calf that's born is precious," Ellis said.
People are instructed to never approach right whales — on the water, on planes or with drones. The legally mandated distance to observe them is 500 yards.
The number of right whales has been on a decline since 2017, with a few years were no calves were born at all, Ellis said. But, that decline appears to have leveled off.
"We're not going to say the population is recovering yet, but we're cautiously optimistic that they're going to hold their own right now," Ellis said.
Whale sightings can be reported by calling the Right Whale Hotline at 1-888-979-4253.
"That allows us to verify that it's a whale and alert commercial vessels that there are whales in the area, so you're helping to protect those whales by making that phone call," Ellis said.
