A pair of adult female right whales, Koala and Curlew, have mystified researchers this winter as they cruised south along the Florida coast, then made a surprise appearance this week off Alabama’s Gulf Coast.
Pregnant female North Atlantic right whales migrate south each winter from the waters off New England and Nova Scotia to give birth in the warmer waters off Florida and Georgia.
Sometimes other whales also make the journey to the Southeast, but this pair of whales put their own spin on the trip. They were seen off Perdido Pass near the Alabama-Florida border on Sunday.
It’s unusual for right whales to travel around the southern tip of Florida and into the Gulf, and it’s also unusual for two adult females to travel together, said Julie Albert, with the Blue World Research Institute and director of the Right Whale Sighting Network. “The fact that they’re still traveling together is fascinating."
The two unrelated whales were seen and reported together several times along the East Coast, in South Carolina and Florida, as they migrated southward, Albert said. Koala is identified by the shape of a white patch, known as a callosity, on top of her head that looks like a koala bear. Curlew was named for the scar on her back that resembles the beak of a curlew, a large wading bird.
After they were seen off Boynton Beach on Florida’s southeast coast on Jan. 12, whale watchers lost track of them, Albert said. “We didn’t know if they went around the Keys, or if they turned around and went north again.
“It’s very atypical that we lose right whales on the East Coast.”
Watching the whales
Several agencies and organizations partner to conduct aerial surveys off the Florida and Georgia coasts on good weather days, watching for signs of the enormous marine mammals and their newborns, and trained volunteers keep watch from condos and piers.
The whales are considered critically endangered, with a population estimated at around 370 and only 70 actively reproducing females, so the birth of each new calf is heralded.
So far this winter, aerial surveys and observers have confirmed seven right whale calves.
An unusual journey
In her 26 years working with right whale sighting networks, Albert has seen right whales travel into the Gulf fewer than a half-dozen times. Usually, they have been first-time mothers, who stick close to shore off Florida’s southwest coast, she said.
When right whales do arrive in the Gulf, they often quickly become social media sensations, but not this pair.
“The fact that these two got all the way to Alabama without us knowing is strange,” she said. “They had to have been traveling farther offshore.”
That was the case with the right whale named Boomerang in 2004, she said. The whale swam all the way to Corpus Christi, Texas, but wasn't seen much close to shore, she said.
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The appearances in the Gulf always worry whale scientists because of the many harbors and boats but no network of spotters who watch for the whales on the East Coast.
"It's crucial for people to keep their distance and report sightings as soon as possible," Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials said this week. "Snowcone brought her very young calf into the Gulf during the 2020 calving season, and that calf was struck by two different small vessels weeks apart during their journey back north."
Mariners or beachgoers can report whale sightings to 888-979-4253. Federal rule requires people, boats, kayaks and paddle boards to stay at least 500 yards away from a right whale. If a whale appears closer than that, the boats are advised to slowly motor away from the animal.
"Hitting a North Atlantic right whale could be devastating to both the boater and this species alike," said Oceana, an ocean conservation organization. Collisions with watercraft and entanglements in fishing gear are the two leading causes of human-related whale deaths.
Dinah Voyles Pulver, a national correspondent for USA TODAY, has covered climate change, right whales and the environment for decades. Reach her at [email protected] or @dinahvp on X or Bluesky.