First identified mother/calf pair in the 2024-2025 season spotted off Georgia’s coast
SAPELO ISLAND, Ga. – The start of the right whale calving season officially began. On December 1, Clearwater Marine Aquarium’s Georgia Team spotted a mother and calf swimming in the warmer southern waters off the coast of Sapelo Island, Georgia. The pair are the first calf and mother identified for the 2024-2025 season. The identification of this pair follows Monday’s announcement of an unidentified mother and calf seen off the coast of South Carolina in late November.
The mother was identified as 31-year-old Nauset, named after the Nauset lighthouse on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The newborn is Nauset’s fifth known calf after she last gave birth four years ago. Her first grandchild was born to her daughter Canaveral in 2013.
Nauset’s family has faced a collective 8 entanglements and 4 vessel strikes – which is not unusual given that these two threats are the species’ leading causes of death.
The birth comes at a critical time for the North Atlantic right whales, a species whose population numbers only around 370. There are fewer than 70 reproductive-age females remaining, making every whale mother and newborn crucial to the whale’s survival.
In response to the new right whale sighting, Environment Georgia’s State Director, Jennette Gayer issued the following statement:
“The right whale is Georgia’s state marine mammal, so it is extra exciting to hear that the first identified pair was right off our coast. Every new birth is worth celebrating for a species with critically low population numbers.
“I hope that Georgia has the privilege of hosting many more right whale births during this year’s calving season and beyond. But for that to happen, we must establish strong protections for right whale mothers and newborn calves to migrate safely during the winter. We must act soon so that we can celebrate our state marine mammal for centuries to come.”
