Georgia DNR, Wildlife Resources Division
The right whale world welcomed another calf last weekend.
On Feb. 23, North Atlantic right whale catalog No. 3420, more easily remembered by her nickname, Platypus, was seen swimming with her new calf a few hundred yards off Ormond Beach, Fla.. Platypus is 21 years old and this her second known calf (she first gave birth in 2015). The latest is the 10th calf documented this winter.
The Marineland Right Whale Project, funded in part by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, reported the pair. It was the first time Platypus had been spotted since 2023, and that was in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, according to the New England Aquarium Right Whale Catalog.
For more on the calving season this winter, read our recent summary. For a map of right whale observations over the last two weeks, visit Whalemap.
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