February 12, 2019 — There’s a whale baby boom taking place off Central Florida’s east coast for the “rarest” of the world’s large whales.
On Friday, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reported on its Facebook page that during the current North Atlantic right whale birthing season, a fifth calf has been spotted off Florida — this time near Sebastian Inlet State Park with a first-time mother.
“Volunteers with Sebastian Inlet State Park sighted a mother-calf pair February 5, 2019, just off the beach,” the FWC posted on its Flickr account. “Photographs taken by Park Ranger, Ed Perry, confirm the mother is Catalog #4180. Right whale #4180 is at least eight years old and this is her first known calf. The pair was observed resting and nursing at the surface.”
So, why do five right whale calves constitute a baby boom?