Sixth Calf of Season Seen – Georgia Wildlife Blog

Chalk up another North Atlantic right whale calf for the 2024-2025 calving season.

The Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute aerial survey team contracted by Georgia DNR spotted the sixth mom-calf pair about 11 nautical miles off Amelia Island, Fla., on Jan. 16.

Grand Teton and her ninth calf off Amelia Island Jan. 16 (Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute/NOAA permit 26919)

The new mom is right whale catalog No. 1145, nicknamed Grand Teton after the mountain peak and national park. (Right whales are cataloged by number but often named — and identified — by the patterns of rough, white patches of skin on their heads called callosities.)

Grand Teton is over 44 years old and this is her ninth known calf. This marine matron was first seen with a calf in 1981.

The survey effort that documented the pair is funded by DNR and NOAA Fisheries.

Congrats to Grand Teton and here’s hoping for more calves to come this winter.

For updates, follow this blog’s Right Whale tab.

(Video or images of right whales used by media or other outlets must include the following: Taken by Georgia DNR under NOAA permit 26919. It is illegal to approach right whales in U.S. waters without a research permit. Other vessels, aircraft and drones must maintain a distance of at least 500 yards from these endangered whales. Researchers shown have the training and permits required to approach right whales safely and legally.)