A new report prepared via Cape Cod coastal science group states that the first North Atlantic right whale babies of the year have been spotted in the Gulf of Maine. The center of coastal studies says that an aerial survey was done and found a mother and calf in the north end of Cape Cod Bay between Marshfield and Race Point on Monday.
According to The Washington Times, after this alert, researchers from Northeast Fisheries Science Center searched for hours and found different mother and calf in the Cape Cod Canal. The Northeast Fisheries Science Center says that the male calf spotted was the baby of a whale researchers calls "Padiddle". Padiddle is almost around 39 years old and the calf is around 8 years old.
These whales come under endangered species and are only few hundred numbers in existence. The Gulf of Maine is considered as one of the critical feeding areas for them. Only three right whale calves were born this season till now. This rate is among the lowest birth rate of right whales since 2000.
According to WCVBV, Alison Ogilvie, an aerial observer tells that the aerial view shows the mother whale was subsurface feeding while the calf was rolling and tail flapping. Both mother and calf looked very healthy. It seems like more than 800 miles of migration was done by them from the calving grounds off Georgia and Florida.
The right whale is also called Eubalaena (Scientific name). Right whales are considered as the rarest of all large whales. There are many more species but are identified by enormous heads. Their head is almost one-third of their total body weight. These whales have massive jaws with hundreds of baleen teeth and head. Right whales feed themselves on Zooplankton and other tiny organisms using baleens up to 8 feet long.
