The time of year is here where North Atlantic Right Whales can be seen up and down Flagler County’s coastline. To honor this special time of year, Gamble Rogers State Recreation Area coupled with local author & owner of Ocean Publishing, Frank Gromling, for “Coffee with a Ranger” to talk about the right whale, where it hails from and why it has chosen to be a snow birder and spend winter off of Flagler County’s coast. Here’s what we learned:
The North Atlantic Right Whale is one of the most endangered whales in the world and is covered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act of 1973 and the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. Like many endangered species, this whale was once prevalent in Atlantic waters, but was aggressively hunted down until 1935 from numbers of 10,000 down to 100 with only 3 females capable of reproducing to preserve the species. This rather large baleen whale resides in SE Canadian Waters (think Nova Scotia) and off the coast of New England.
The name “Right Whale” came from the animals’ slow nature, tendency to remain close to shore, fearlessness of approach and large quantities of blubber (an amazing 40% of the right whales body weight is blubber) – making it the “right” whale to hunt. Unfortunately, the species namesake also turned out to be what lead to their “almost” demise. Of the right whales mortality, 50% was caused my humans (hunting), 40% cause by being struck by large boats and 5-10% caused by entanglement.
The right whale has slowly increased in numbers over the years from an astonishingly low count of 100 in existence to 473 known right whales to date. And that brings us to why the North Atlantic Right Whale is here in fantastic Flagler County. Scientists believe that the pregnant female right whales need to birth in a place where the water is reasonably warm and shallow as new calves do not have any blubber. So during the winter months, the female right whales will migrate south for birthing; however, the adult males and females who are not birthing will stay in the cooler waters off of the north east coast in New England and Nova Scotia. Flagler County has the warmer temperate waters and a very shallow coastal plane. So shallow that one would have to travel 35 to 40 miles to get out to 100 feet of water.
What does all of this mean? That the right whales are here and now is the time to pull out your binoculars and head out to the beach to do some real whale watching. No binoculars? Don’t worry; you can see them without visual aids. My favorite spots to whale watch are the Flagler Beach Municipal Pier, the landing at Washington Oaks Gardens State Park beach access and the boardwalk at Marineland. Important items to note: North Atlantic Right Whales are an endangered species and you must stay 500 yards away from them (or more) whether you are in a boat, kayak, surf board, plane, etc. Play it safe and make sure to check them out soon as right whales will begin their migration back home mid-March.
Want to help? The Marineland Right Whale Survey Project was established to help track right whale progress and is asking for citizens to please call the right whale hotline if you’ve spotted a North Atlantic Right Whale. For sightings, please call 1.888.979.4253 and provide the location of the whale(s), number of whales and calves, direction they are swimming, if dolphins are present and also make sure to provide your name and contact information.
*A note about Frank Gromling: As mentioned above Frank is the owner of Ocean Publishing, a traditional press that was established in Flagler County in 2002. He is also the author of Frank’s Whales which describes the efforts of the small group of volunteers who do their part to help save the North Atlantic Right Whale. All of the information above was provided by Mr. Gromling at the “Coffee with a Ranger” program and while he states that he is not a scientist, he is certainly passionate about saving this endangered species.
**Photo courtesy of the Marineland Right Whale Survey Project. See more on their blog!
