There are approximately 360 individuals remaining, including fewer than 70 reproductively active females. With so few of these whales left, researchers closely monitor the Southeast for new offspring during the annual right whale calving season.
Every single female North Atlantic right whale and calf are vital to this endangered species’ recovery. So far, researchers have identified 19 calves this calving season. Check back here or follow NOAA Fisheries on Twitter for updates.
North Atlantic right whales are dying faster than they can reproduce, largely due to human causes. Since 2017, the whales have been experiencing an Unusual Mortality Event, which has resulted in more than 20 percent of the population being sick, injured, or killed. The primary causes of the Unusual Mortality Event are entanglements in fishing gear and collisions with boats and ships.
Researchers estimate there are fewer than 70 reproductively active females remaining. These females are producing fewer calves each year, which impacts the ability of the species to recover. Female right whales become sexually mature at about age 10. They give birth to a single calf after a year-long pregnancy. Three years is considered a normal or healthy interval between right whale births. But now, on average, they are having calves every 6 to 10 years. Biologists believe the additional stress from entanglements, vessel strike injuries, and changes in prey availability due to climate change all likely contribute to right whales calving less often, even when the females survive the event.
With the current number of females and the necessary resting time between births, 20 newborns in a calving season would be considered a relatively productive year. However, given the estimated rate of human-caused mortality and serious injury, we need approximately 50 or more calves per year for many years to stop the decline and allow for recovery. The only solution is to significantly reduce human-caused mortality and injuries, as well as stressors on reproduction.
Every identified North Atlantic right whale has an assigned four-digit number in the Right Whale Catalog. Researchers assign names to whales that have a unique physical feature or a strong story in connection to a community or habitat where they were seen.
A member of the public reported seeing a right whale mother with a calf off Cape Canaveral, Florida on February 16, 2024. Biologists with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission were able to identify the whale as right whale #3590 “Dog-Ear” based on the description of a distinctive prior injury. She experienced at least three vessel strikes by the age of 4 years old. One of these injuries caused the tip of her fluke, or tail, to be folded over, like a dog-eared page in a book. Dog-Ear is 19 years old, and this is her first known calf.
On February 16, 2024, the Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute saw right whale #3260 “Skittle” and her calf about 28 miles east of Kure Beach, North Carolina. Skittle is at least 23 years old, and this is her second known calf. Unfortunately, Skittle’s first calf, born in 2010, likely died soon after it was born as Skittle was seen without her calf on the calving grounds. In 2007, she was documented with an entanglement through her mouth but was able to shed the gear and was seen gear-free in 2008.
Skittle is named for her callosity pattern, which resembles the bowling pin used in the traditional British sport of Skittles.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission saw first-time right whale mother #3725 and her calf on January 30, 2024 about 16 miles off Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. This whale is 17 years old and this is her first observed calf. She is the daughter of #1425, “Butterfly,” another 2024 mom—this calf is Butterfly’s first known grandcalf!
On January 27, 2024, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission saw right whale #1425 “Butterfly” and her calf approximately 16 miles off Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Butterfly is at least 43 years old and this is her fifth known calf. She is named for her callosity pattern, which looks like a pair of butterfly wings.
Butterfly’s first known calf, #2425, was struck by a 43-foot vessel off Cumberland Island, Georgia in March 2005. Her injuries were severe and she was last seen in Cape Cod Bay in September 2005 in extremely poor condition. She was 11 at the time, and had not yet been seen with a calf. Butterfly’s second calf, #3125, a male, was last seen in 2019 with an extensive entanglement. The configuration and extent of the entanglement was suspected to have been lethal. Although there were a number of entanglement response efforts in Canada and the Northeast United States, he has not been seen since.
Butterfly’s third known calf, #3725, is another 2024 mom, making this Butterfly’s first known grandcalf. Butterfly last gave birth 10 years ago—that calf, a male, has been seen in recent years.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission saw first-time right whale mother #3820 and her calf on January 24, 2024 about 22 miles off Nassau Sound, Florida. #3820 is 16 years old and this is her first observed calf.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission saw right whale #3130 “Marilyn Monroe” and calf on January 17, 2024 about 26 miles off Jekyll Island, Georgia. Marilyn Monroe's name originates from a scar on the front of her head that resembles the film star’s iconic beauty mark. She is 23 years old and this is her fourth known calf.
Her first calf #3810, a male, was born in 2008; her second calf #4191, a female, was born in 2011. Both were seen in 2022. Although #4191 is old enough to calve, she has not yet been seen with a calf or sighted in the calving grounds since she herself was a calf. Marilyn Monroe last gave birth in 2021. While that calf is not yet cataloged, it has been seen recently and will hopefully be cataloged soon.
The Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute saw right whale #1950 on January 11, 2024 approximately 12 miles off St. Simons Sound, Georgia. She is at least 35 years old and this is her sixth documented calf.
Her first two calves were male (#2750 and #3350), and the other three females (#3650, #4050, and #4550). Although all three females are old enough to give birth, none have been seen yet with a calf. Her five previous calves were sighted in 2022, except #2750, which was last seen in 2019.
On January 11, 2024 the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission sighted right whale #2791 “Fenway” and her calf approximately 20 miles off Cumberland Island, Georgia. Her last known sighting was off Long Island in November by the NOAA Fisheries Northeast Fisheries Science Center aerial team. Fenway is at least 28 years old and this is her fourth documented calf. She is named for her overall callosity pattern, which looks like a baseball bat. Fenway Park is home to the Boston Red Sox.
Her first calf (#3691), a male, has not been seen since 2013 and is presumed dead. Her second calf (#3991), a female, was born in 2009. Although #3991 is old enough to give birth, she has not yet been seen with a calf. Fenway did not calve again until 2019, when she had her third known calf (#4991), a female. Both #3991 and #4991 were seen in 2022.
Right whale #1301, also known as “Half Note,” and her calf were seen on January 11, 2024 approximately 6 miles off Cumberland Island, Georgia. Half Note is 41 years old and this is her eighth documented calf. She calved in 1989, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2014, and 2022.
Her most recent calf was born just 2 years ago during the 2022 season. That calf’s condition deteriorated on the calving grounds and it is presumed dead. Unfortunately, several days after she was first seen with her 2024 calf, both aerial and vessel surveys spotted Half Note without her calf. Half Note has now lost seven of her eight known calves, most of which have likely not survived beyond the calving grounds.
Neptune (#3301), her 2003 male calf, survived a vessel strike as a dependent calf, another vessel strike as a juvenile, and most recently was added to the right whale Unusual Mortality Event after an entanglement. He was last seen in 2022.
On January 11, 2024, a Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute aerial team spotted North Atlantic right whale #2912 “Limulus” and her calf approximately 8 miles east of Ossabaw Island, Georgia.
Excitingly, Limulus’s mom is Juno, the first right whale mom seen this season. Limulus was also one of the very first whales seen this calving season, on November 15, 2023 off the coast of northern North Carolina. She is named for her callosity pattern and head shape, which resemble a horseshoe crab (genus Limulus).
Limulus is 25 years old and this is her third documented calf; she last gave birth 11 years ago during the 2013 calving season. Her first calf (#3712), a male, was born in 2007 and survived an entanglement in fishing gear as a juvenile. Her second calf (#4312), a female, was born in 2013. Although she is old enough to give birth, #4312 has not been seen with a calf or on the calving grounds since she was born. The last known sighting of both #3712 and #4312 was in 2022.
The Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute sighted right whale #1810 “Swerve” and her calf on January 3, 2024 approximately 5 miles off Altamaha Sound, Georgia. Swerve is at least 36 years old and this is her sixth documented calf. Nearly all of Swerve’s sightings from 1988 to now have been in the Southeast United States.
Her first known calf in 1994 was never cataloged. Her second calf (#2810), a male, survived an entanglement and was last seen in 2021. Swerve’s third calf, Arrow (#3290), is her only known female calf to have calved herself, making Swerve a grandma. Arrow had her first calf during the 2009 season; this calf has not been seen since 2018. Arrow did not calve again until the 2020 season; this calf is not yet cataloged.
Swerve’s fourth calf (#3794), a female, was born in 2007 but has not been seen since 2014 and is presumed dead. Swerve did not calve again for 11 years until the 2016 calving season when she had her fifth known calf (#4610), a female, whose last known sighting was 2021.
Swerve is named for the appearance of her callosity pattern, where features are “swerving” away from each other.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission aerial survey team saw North Atlantic right whale #1812 “Legato” and her calf on December 31, 2023 approximately 18 miles off Amelia Island, Florida. The NOAA Fisheries Northeast Fisheries Science Center aerial team saw Legato only 1 month prior off the New Jersey coast. This means she likely traveled nearly 1,000 miles during this time. Legato is 36 years old and last gave birth 13 years ago during the 2011 calving season. This is her fifth calf.
Legato’s first calf (#3302), a male, has not been seen since his entanglement, which was a serious injury, in 2011 and is now presumed dead. Her second calf (#3602), a female, died in 2006 shortly after birth with evidence of entanglement. Her third calf (#3802 Portato), a female born in 2008, was last seen in 2022. Although Portato is old enough to give birth, she has not been seen with a calf or on the calving grounds since she was a juvenile. Legato’s fourth calf (#4102), sex unknown, was last seen in 2022.
Legato’s name is a musical term that fits into her family’s musical lineage (Staccato, 1/4 Note, Portato, and Arpeggio). The name also relates to her callosity pattern—her islands are sort of fused, and legato means smooth and flowing notes.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission saw right whale #3780 and her calf approximately 29 miles east of the St. Marys River Entrance near the Florida-Georgia border. Right whale #3780 was first seen in 2007 as an adult, so her age is unknown but she is considered to be at least 17 years old. This is her first observed calf, and the calf was younger than 3 days old when it was seen.
Unfortunately, less than a week after the mom-calf pair were seen, #3780 was spotted by both aerial and vessel surveys without her calf. #3780 has been seen in the Southeast United States during four other calving seasons—2007, 2008, 2011, and 2013—but never documented with a calf.
The Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute spotted right whale #3546 “Halo” and her calf approximately 7 miles off Cumberland Island, Georgia. Halo is 19 years old and this is her third documented calf. Her first calf, born in 2014, is uncataloged. Her second calf (#5046, Jagger), a male born in 2020, was last seen in 2022.
Halo is named for the arched shape of the callosities behind her blow holes, which make it look like she’s wearing a halo.
The Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute spotted North Atlantic right whale #3320—also known as “Braces”—and her calf 15 miles east of Nassau Sound, Florida. Braces is at least 26 years old and this is her third documented calf. Her first calf (#3970), a male born in 2009, was last seen in 2022. Braces and #3970 have both been documented with multiple entanglement injuries.
Her second calf was born just 2 years ago during the 2022 season. Survey teams only sighted this calf once. A 2-year gap between calves usually means the previous calf died at a young age.
Braces is named for the entanglement scars along her lip that resemble orthodontic braces.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission saw right whale #1703 “Wolf” and her calf approximately 15 miles off Atlantic Beach, Florida. Wolf is 37 years old and this is her fifth known calf. Unfortunately, all of her previous calves have been injured, are dead or presumed dead, or have not been cataloged.
Her first calf (#3103), a female, died in 2009, but conducting a necropsy to determine cause of death was not possible. Her second calf (#3503, Caterpillar) was observed with massive propeller wounds along her back at 2 years old. When Caterpillar was seven, she was seen with new injuries consistent with an entanglement. Caterpillar is 19 now but has never been observed with a calf.
Learn more about our work to track and monitor Caterpillar and other right whales
Wolf’s third calf (#3803, Phantom), also a female, has not been seen since 2015 and is presumed dead. Wolf last gave birth 9 years ago, and that calf has not been cataloged.
Wolf is named after a group of islands in the Bay of Fundy called The Wolves, because of her regular sightings in the Bay and her callosity resembling a chain of islands.
On December 9, 2023, the U.S. Coast Guard reported seeing two right whales. As a result, the Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute aerial survey team then found and identified the pair as right whale #1970—also known as “Palmetto”—and her calf. They were about 7 miles east of Hilton Head, South Carolina. Later that evening, a fishing charter boat reported having seen a mother-calf pair also near Hilton Head the day before (December 8). Their video footage confirmed it was Palmetto and her calf.
Palmetto is named for the unique pattern of callosities on her head resembling a palmetto palm tree, and for her previous sightings off the coast of South Carolina. The palmetto palm is on the South Carolina state flag.
She is at least 35 years old, and this is her sixth documented calf. Her calves from 2005 (#3580) and 2020 (#5070), both male, have been seen in recent years.
The Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute saw the second right whale mother-calf pair of the season on December 7, 2023 about 25 miles off of St. Catherine’s Island, Georgia. The mother, right whale #3360 “Horton,” was first seen in 2003 and is at least 21 years old. She’s named for a small speck of a scar on the right side of her head, after Horton the elephant who carried a world that was the size of a speck.
She had two previous calves in 2007 and 2010, but they are sadly presumed dead. Her 2007 calf was a male right whale #3791 named “Truffula.” He was unfortunately seen in poor condition in May 2016, emaciated and with injuries consistent with a fishing gear entanglement. He has not been seen since September 2016. Horton’s 2010 calf, #4090, was seen entangled in gillnet gear in September 2011 and was not seen again.
Much like her previous calves, Horton has also suffered from fishing gear entanglements. She was entangled in 2009, but shed the gear on her own. In March 2014, she was seen with evidence of a recent, significant entanglement—scarring on her tail stock—although no gear was present. Entanglement in fishing gear is one of the greatest threats to North Atlantic right whales. It is estimated that more than 85 percent of right whales have been entangled in fishing gear at least once. Learn more about Horton and her calves.
A survey team from Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute spotted the first mother-calf pair of the right whale calving season on November 28, 2023 about 7 miles off the coast of Georgetown, South Carolina. Right whale #1612, also known as “Juno,” had been seen just 4 days prior south of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina without a calf, making her calf only a few days old!
Juno is at least 38 years old and this is her eighth documented calf—her last known calf was born in 2020. Juno was first sighted in 1986 in the southeastern United States with a calf. Interestingly, nearly all of her sightings have been with a calf.
Unfortunately, Juno’s calf has since been seen with injuries consistent with a vessel strike. After reviewing this case, NOAA Fisheries biologists made a preliminary determination that it meets the criteria of a “serious injury.” This means the calf is likely to die as a result. We will continue to work with authorized responders to monitor this calf and further document its injuries.
The right whale calving season begins in mid-November and runs through mid-April. Female right whales become sexually mature at about age 10. They give birth to a single calf after a year-long pregnancy. Three years is considered a normal or healthy interval between right whale births. But now, females are having calves every 7 to 10 years, on average. Biologists believe that the stress caused by entanglement in fishing gear and collisions with boats and ships is one of the reasons that females are calving less often or not at all.
Each fall, some right whales travel more than 1,000 miles from their feeding areas in the waters off New England and Canada to the shallow, coastal waters of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and northeastern Florida. The southeastern United States is the only known area where right whales regularly give birth and nurse their young.
NOAA Fisheries has designated two areas as critical habitat for North Atlantic right whales, including off the southeast U.S. coast from Cape Fear, North Carolina, to below Cape Canaveral, Florida—an important nursery and calving area.
A number of government agencies fund and conduct right whale aerial surveys between North Carolina and northeast Florida during the calving season. These agencies include the Army Corps of Engineers, Coast Guard, Navy, NOAA, and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. All of these aerial survey teams:
Other key partners in monitoring the right whale calving area include Clearwater Marine Aquarium, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and the New England Aquarium.
Boat-based teams from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission collect biopsy samples from right whale calves and other right whales that haven’t been previously sampled. You can think of these biopsies as similar to blood samples you provide to personal genetic DNA testing companies to learn about who you are and your family relationships. Identifying as many individual right whales each year as possible is crucial for monitoring the population; data on individual whales are used in models that estimate the total number of right whales.
Calving season is an especially vulnerable period for these whales. Despite their enormous size, North Atlantic right whales can be very difficult to spot from a boat due to their dark color and lack of a dorsal fin. This is especially true in poor weather and sea state or low light conditions. Mother-calf pairs are at heightened risk for vessel strikes because these individuals spend nearly all their time at or close to the water surface, but are difficult to see. Most boaters who reported striking a right whale didn’t see the whale prior to colliding with it.
Right whales have been injured or killed by all types and sizes of vessels—from recreational boats to large ocean-going ships. Additionally, disturbance from watercraft or aircraft could affect behaviors critical to the health and survival of the species. It is extremely important for all mariners and boaters to slow down, stay alert, and give these whales plenty of room.
Slower speeds are known to reduce the severity of impacts when collisions with whales occur and may provide boat and vessel operators an opportunity to avoid a collision. For most vessels 65 feet or longer, mandatory 10-knot seasonal management areas went into effect on November 1 between Rhode Island and Florida. Additional seasonal management areas off Massachusetts become active on January 1, 2023. NOAA Fisheries strongly urges mariners operating vessels 35-65 feet in length to transit at or under 10 knots within active seasonal management areas, in light of the danger posed to right whales by smaller vessels and NOAA Fisheries' proposed changes to the vessel speed regulations.
In advance of your trip, check the NOAA Right Whale Sightings Advisory System or the Whale Alert app for active right whale safety zones, including seasonal and dynamic management areas, and right whale slow zones, and recent whale sightings near your location.
Learn more about U.S. vessel speed regulations and programs for right whales
All boaters from Maine to Virginia, or interested parties, can sign up for email or text notifications about the latest right whale slow zones.
Post a lookout. Watch for black objects, white water, and splashes. Avoid boating in the dark or in rough seas, when visibility is poor.
Federal law requires vessels, paddle boarders, and aircraft (including drones) to stay at least 500 yards (five football fields) away from right whales. Any vessel within 500 yards of a right whale must depart immediately at a safe, slow speed. These restrictions are in place to prevent accidental collisions between right whales and boats as well as to protect the whales from disturbance.
To report a right whale sighting from North Carolina to Florida, or a dead, injured, or entangled whale, contact NOAA Fisheries at (877) WHALE-HELP ((877) 942-5343) or the Coast Guard on marine VHF channel 16. Please report sightings from Virginia to Maine by calling (866) 755-6622. If safe, and from the legally required 500-yard distance, please take a photo and note the GPS coordinates to share with biologists.
North Atlantic right whale Horton and newborn calf. Credit: Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute, taken under NOAA permit #26919.
Spectators spot whales on a WhaleSENSE whale watching trip in Juneau, Alaska. Credit: NOAA Fisheries
An oceanic whitetip shark swims near the surface of the water. Photo courtesy of John Carlson.
