Marineland Makes Vital Contribution
Info from Jim Hain - Associated Scientists at Woods Hole
At noon on February 17, Lisa Crosby called in a
sighting of a mother and calf pair just south of
Marineland. As the whales moved slowly south, they
were photographed and tracked by volunteers at
Marineland until 6:40 p.m. that evening. At 2:48 p.m. on
February 19, Joy Hampp spotted this pair from an AirCam
aircraft south of Flagler Beach. At about the same time,
volunteer Suzanne Bailey of Ormond Beach also called
in the sighting. The photograph shown on page one
identified the mother as #1622 with her second calf. Her
previous calf was born in 1997. Chris Slay of the New
England Aquarium explained the new calf was likely born
around February 8, making it only about 11 days old at
this sighting. Volunteers spotted this pair a third time just
after noon on February 21 off South Ponte Vedra Beach.
Jim Hain responded to the call, got on the road,
photographed the whales, and tracked the pair (they were
almost stationary) until 5:30 p.m. that afternoon. This
mother/calf pair was also spotted and photographed on
March 5 and March 6, making her the first right whale to
be photo-identified and tracked with the help of shore-
based volunteers for 18 days! According to Chris Slay,
this pair also gave the most accurate birthday for the
season. Only four days separate a sighting of the mother
alone from the mother having a calf at her side.
Next article: New Right Whale Educational Website
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