Couplet and calf seen in Cape Cod Bay

Couplet and her calf have successfully made it to Cape Cod Bay from the calving area off Florida and Georgia.

Read more on the New England Aquarium Research blog: http://rightwhales.neaq.org/2014/04/cape-cod-bay-update.html

Hopefully, we may see them in the Bay of Fundy this summer if the zooplankton resources recover.

Couplet is the daughter of Drippy-Nose and grand daughter of Kleenex.

Kleenex has a new great grand calf

Couplet #2123 who is the daughter of Drippy-nose AKA Sonnet #1123 has been seen on the calving ground with her fifth calf.  Sonnet is the daughter of Kleenex #1142.  This increases Kleenex's family to six great grand calves, and, of course, the existing 9 grand calves and 8 calves.

It is nice to see that the daughter (#1301 Half Note) of the first right whale in the right whale catalogue (#1001 Fermata) has a new calf.  Fermata hasn't been seen since 1992 but her daughter has been successfully carrying on the family genes. 

If you have a Facebook account, check out the group Right Whale Research  https://www.facebook.com/groups/155650304506795/ and the Face-ing Extinction: The North Atlantic Right Whale page  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Face-ing-Extinction-The-North-Atlantic-Right-Whale/187505221270322 for great information and updates.

Wart's and Kleenex's Families Grow

The 2013 right whale calving season is only a month old and already twelve calves have been seen and two of our adoptive families have grown.

Kleenex has one of the largest right whale families and her daughter, #2042, had her first calf in December.  This is Kleenex's eight grand-calf and the fourth of five daughters to have calves. Kleenex has had eight calves with the earliest in 1977 (unknown sex and never catalogued), followed by two male calves and five female calves. #2042 has yet to be named and is one of the older new mothers, born in 1990.  The age a female has her first calf varies greatly, from as young as five to over twenty, but the average is around ten years of age.

Right whale diving in the Bay of Fundy.

Wart's family has grown by two so far this calving season.  Her daughter, Black Heart #3540, born in 2005, had her first calf, Wart's tenth grand-calf.  Wart's grand-calf, Millipede #3520, born the same year as Black Heart, and the daughter of Wart's calf, Naevus, #2040, born in 1990, also had her first calf in December, Wart's fourth great-grand-calf.

It is not unusual to have several generations of right whale females with calves in the same year.  In fact, #1612 and her daughter #2912 both have had calves this December.  Researchers are still hoping that perhaps some of the females that were seen in the Gulf of Maine a year ago, a suggested mating area for right whales, will be seen with calves this year.

Right whale diving amongst great and sooty shearwaters in the Bay of Fundy.

Drippy-Nose's 2001 calf #3123 seen entangled

The 2001 female calf of Drippy-nose, AKA Sonnet, #3123, was photographed by the Center for Coastal Studies in Provinceton, MA on April 29, 2011.  Recently during analysis of the photos, they realized that the whale had what appeared to be red material near the right side of the mouth or the flipper.  Although the whale had been seen two other times in the previous month, this area of the whale was not observed.  It was very difficult to see the entanglement and the recommendation is to monitor the whale.

This female had her first calf over a year ago.  Calves usually stay with their mothers for a year before separating.  It would have been expected that her calf went its own way this winter.  She was seen by Quoddy Link Marine October 12, 2010 in the Bay of Fundy.  Her calf was Kleenex's fifth grand calf.

Kleenex family grows again with a new grand-calf

2008 calf of Drippy-nose taken August 26, 2008

The analysis of photographs taken by the National Marine Fisheries Service aerial survey team has revealed the 21st right whale mother of this calving season and she is Kleenex's 1981 daughter Drippy-nose, AKA Sonnet (#1123) in the North Atlantic Right Whale Catalogue.  This is Drippy-nose's fifth calf and Kleenex's eighth grand-calf.  Drippy-nose had her last calf in 2008.

Kleenex grand daughter and great-grand calf

On September 6, we went looking for humpbacks and sperm whales and ended up with right whales.   One of the mothers and calves was #3123, daughter of #1123, Drippy-nose or Sonnet, and grand daughter of #1142 Kleenex.  This mother calf pair had been seen by the Center for Coastal Studies research team on August 22 south of the September 6 location. 

Kleenex has one of the larger right whale families with eight offspring, seven grand calves (two born in 2010) and five great grand calves (one born in 2010).  Kleenex's last calf was born in 2009.

Her female offspring keep up the Bay of Fundy tradition by also bringing their calves to the Bay of Fundy in their first year.

This photo shows the mother #3123 behind her calf who is rolled on its side with the eye and eyebrow callosity and chin callosities visible.

Kleenex's daughter and grand-calf

Working with advice on right whales positions from the New England Aquarium research team, we headed out to the Grand Manan Basin in the afternoon on August 11.  We found two mother calf pairs, #3142, the 2001 calf of Kleenex, and #2710, the daughter of Stumpy.  #3142 calf is Kleenex's seventh grand-calf.  Her other daughter who is also a mother this year, #2642 was seen in June off the coast of Nova Scotia with her calf.

Calf of Right Whale #2710

To make the day even more special, we spotted a sperm whale, a rare sighting for the Bay of Fundy, near the location of the right whale mother and calves.

Sperm whale logging or napping at the surface

Kleenex's family grows again

While the calving season has been slow this year for right whales with only ten calves born so far, Kleenex's family has grown with three new members, 2 grand-calves and one great-grand-calf. There is still time for a few more calves to be born and at least three or four possible mothers have been seen in the calving area, along with 60 other right whales.

Daughter #2642 (born in 1996) has had her second calf, the first born in 2007, daughter #3142 (born in 2001) has had her first calf (reported on January 6), and grand-daughter #3123 (daughter of Sonnet, aka Drippy-nose) has had her first calf. This means that Kleenex now has seven grand-calves and five great-grand-calves.

Daughter #2642 was last identified when she was in the Bay of Fundy with her first calf. Grand-daughter #3123 was last seen in August, 2008, also in the Bay of Fundy.

Our adoptive right whale families continue to grow

I received the latest right whale calving numbers from the New England Aquarium and was pleased to see that both Kleenex's and Baldy's families have new members.

On December 22, Bugs was seen with her fifth calf. Bugs is the daughter of Baldy, born in 1982 and this now means that Baldy has ten grand-calves, as well as at least eight calves herself (the latest in 2009) and two great-grand-calves. Baldy was seen many times this summer in the Bay of Fundy but Bugs hadn't been photographed since 2006 in both Cape Cod Bay and the Bay of Fundy, which is not unusual if right whales avoid areas when surveys are being conducted. Bugs is named for a scar on her back that looks like the cartoon character "Bugs Bunny". Bugs had her first calf in 1989, her second in 1995, her third in 2002 and her fourth in 2005.

Right whale #3142, daughter of Kleenex born in 2001, was seen with her first calf also on December 22. This gives Kleenex six grand-calves, as well as at least eight calves (the latest in 2009) and four great-grand-calves. Interesting, #3142 was also last seen in 2006 in the Bay of Fundy. The year #3142 was born was also the beginning of the right whale baby boom with 32 calves born that year. Since 2001 over 200 right whale calves have been born bringing the estimated total of right whales to 438 in 2008 as calculated by the New England Aquarium. This is a complicated calculation that takes many factors into consideration and is not considered an exact number but a good estimate.

The weather has not been favourable for right whale aerial surveys in the southeast United States so this number of calves may be low. Let's hope for better survey weather and more calves are found in the next couple of months. We probably won't have numbers like last year (39) but perhaps in the 20s.

Another great grand calf for Kleenex

The New England Aquarium saw #2123 and her calf today after the team dried out from heavy rain and wind as a storm moved through the area this morning. #2123 was born in 1991 and this is her fourth calf (2001, 2003, 2006, 2009). She is the daughter of Drippy-nose (AKA Sonnet in the right whale catalogue) and grand daughter of Kleenex. Her first calf died which is why there is only two years between the first calf and the second calf but since then she has been on a regular three year cycle, pregnant for a year, nursing for a year and one resting year.

Philip Hamilton of the New England Aquarium commented that the calf was so large that it looked like a juvenile. The transfer of energy from mother to calf is tremendous with the females loosing a substantial percentage of their body mass while nursing their calves. The resting year is necessary to regain the weight lost.

#2123 is the only grand daughter of Kleenex who is old enough to have calves. Kleenex has only one other daughter who has had a calf but she still has a large family with her eighth calf also born this year.

After I had sent a photograph of a calf that I had taken to Philip, it was determined we had both seen #2123's calf, the calf being alone when we sailed by. This is a head on photograph of the calf's head which can used to track this whale throughout its life:

This is a photograph of the calf lying on its side flipper slapping. This behaviour creates a loud bang and may be used by calves and mothers to alert each other of their presence when they are separated, if their calls go unanswered. During the summer, the mother often goes off to feed while the calf remains at the surface. The calf's eye is clearly visible.

Another great calving season

The right whale calving season started in December in the U.S. Southeast (primarily Florida and Georgia waters) and has been amazing with at least 22 calves born by the middle of January. Since 2001, the right whale population has been experiencing a baby boom with more than the average number of calves (~11) being born each year. The highest year was 2001 with at least 31 calves born, however, this is still below the biological potential for the population, i.e. there are still many females who are not having calves. It is quite possible this calving year might exceed the high in 2001. This is exacting what this population needs to recover to a more sustainable level. Right whales remain critically endangered with an estimated population of about 400.

Females typically space their calves by three years (unless their calf dies and then they may have a calf within two years), are on average ten when they have their first calf (youngest four, oldest twenty), and only have one calf at a time. Nursing a rapidly growing baby that weighs a ton at birth is very energy consuming, particularly when the females are fasting for the first few months. Female right whales need a resting year to regain weight before getting pregnant again.

Of our adoptable whales, so far:

• Baldy, #1240 was seen with her eighth calf (last calf in 2005)
• Calvin, #2223 was seen with her second calf (last calf in 2005)
• #1503, daughter of Baldy, was seen with her fourth calf (last calf in 2006)
• #2145, daughter of Grand Teton #1145 and Gemini #1150, was seen with her fourth calf (last calf in 2007 but calf died)
• Couplet, #2123, grand-daughter of Kleenex #1142, was seen with her fourth calf (last calf in 2006). Her mother is Drippy-nose AKA Sonnet #1123
• Shenandoah, #1266, mother of one of Baldy's grand-calves with son #2140, was seen with her seventh calf (last calf in 2004)

Another mother of note is Mavynne #1151. She was involved in the only known case of adoption in right whales in 1989 when she swapped her calf with the calf of Stumpy #1004. No one knows the circumstances, but presumably the two mothers gave birth close to each other and for whatever reasons, their calves ended up being exchanged. The association was discovered through genetic analysis of skin samples from the calves and comparison with their mothers. This is Mavynne's sixth calf. Unfortunately, Stumpy was struck and killed by a ship in 2004. She was missing the right fluke tip on her tail and hence her name.

The right whale catalogue is an invaluable source of information about individual right whales. It is maintained by the New England Aquarium's dedicated right whale team. http://rwcatalog.neaq.org/