NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SER-8

doi: 10.25923/ybgc-k086

North Atlantic Right Whale Calving Area 

Surveys: 2016/2017 Results

by

Claire Surrey-Marsden, Corey Accardo, Melanie White, Clay George, 

Tim Gowan, Philip Hamilton, Katie Jackson, Jen Jakush, Tom Pitchford, 

Cynthia Taylor, Leslie Ward, and Barb Zoodsma

U.S. Department of Commerce

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

National Marine Fisheries Service

Southeast Regional Office

263 13th Avenue South

St. Petersburg, FL 33701

October 2018

North Atlantic Right Whale Calving Area Surveys: 

2016/2017 Results

Claire Surrey-Marsden1, Corey Accardo2, Melanie White3, Clay George4, Tim Gowan2, Philip 

Hamilton5, Katie Jackson2, Jen Jakush2, Tom Pitchford2, Cynthia Taylor3, Leslie Ward2, and Barb 

Zoodsma1

1

NOAA Fisheries, Southeast Regional Office, 263 13th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, Florida 33701

2 Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, 100 8th Avenue 

Southeast, St. Petersburg, Florida 33701

3

Sea to Shore Alliance, 4411 Bee Ridge Road #490, Sarasota, FL 34233

4

Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Nongame Conservation Section, 1 Conservation Way, Brunswick, 

Georgia 31520

5

New England Aquarium, Central Wharf, Boston, MA, 02110

U.S. Department of Commerce

Wilbur L. Ross, Jr., Secretary 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

RDML Timothy Gallaudet, Ph.D., Acting Administrator

National Marine Fisheries Service

Chris Oliver, Assistant Administrator for Fisheries

NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SER-8

October 2018

https://doi.org/10.25923/ybgc-k086
ii

NOTICE

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) does not approve, recommend, or endorse any 

proprietary product or material mentioned in this publication. No reference shall be made to 

NMFS, or to this publication furnished by NMFS, in any advertising or sales promotion which 

would imply that NMFS approves, recommends, or endorses any propriety product or proprietary 

material mentioned herein or which has as its purpose any intent to cause directly or indirectly the 

advertised product to be used or purchased because of this NMFS publication.

Recommended citation:

Surrey-Marsden, Claire, C. Accardo, M. White, C. George, T. Gowan, P. Hamilton, K. Jackson, J. 

Jakush, T. Pitchford, C. Taylor, L. Ward, and Zoodsma, B. 2018. North Atlantic Right Whale 

Calving Area Surveys: 2016/2017 Results. U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NOAA. NOAA Technical 

Memorandum NMFS-SER-8, 16 p

Copies of this report may be obtained from:

Barb Zoodsma

National Marine Fisheries Service 

Southeast Regional Office

263 13th Avenue North

St. Petersburg, FL 33701

Or online at:

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/resources/all-publications
ii

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Methods 1

Aerial Surveys 1

Teams/Platform 1

2016/2017 Survey Zone and Frequency 1

Daily Survey Area 2

Aerial Survey Data 3

Whale Alerts 3

Results 4

Aerial Surveys 4

Whale Alerts 8

Miscellaneous 9

Injured and Entangled Whales 9

Mortalities 9

Dynamic Management Areas 9

Inlet Incursion 10

Key Points 10

Acknowledgements 10

References 10

Appendix A 11
1

Introduction

Aerial surveys are flown December 1 through March 31 each year in the Southeast United States

(U.S.) to detect North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) in their primary calving area. 

The purpose of the aerial surveys is to contribute to (in prioritized order):

● Population monitoring via detection and identification of individual right whales 

including cow/calf pairs occurring in the Southeast U.S.

● Monitoring trends in human-related serious injuries and mortality.

● Vessel-strike reduction.

Given these objectives, we focused aerial surveys in areas where we expected the highest 

number of right whale detections. 

Additionally, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric and Administration’s National Marine 

Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries), U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, and U.S. Army Corps of 

Engineers have agreed to implement the “Early Warning System” (EWS) – a system of aerial 

surveys and communications designed to provide mariners with information on whale locations. 

The goal of the EWS is vessel-whale collision mitigation.

This report briefly summarizes results from NOAA Fisheries-administered aerial surveys and the 

EWS during the 2016/2017 North Atlantic right whale calving season.

Methods

Aerial Surveys

Teams/Platform

Two dedicated teams flew aerial surveys in 2016/2017. The Sea to Shore Alliance (S2S) team, 

contracted by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GDNR), was based out of St. 

Simons Island, Georgia and flew aboard a NOAA-owned De Havilland Twin Otter. The flight 

team consisted of two observers and a dedicated data recorder. The Florida Fish and Wildlife 

Conservation Commission (FWC) team was based out of St. Augustine, Florida and flew aboard 

a Cessna Skymaster. The FWC flight team consisted of two observers; one of these also served 

as the data recorder. Two pilots were seated at the controls in each aircraft.

2016/2017 Survey Zone and Frequency

Flight lines were selected from a geographic area ranging from near Savannah, Georgia to just 

north of Cape Canaveral, Florida. Surveys focused on areas where the highest number of right 

whale detections were expected based on dynamic combinations of habitat features within the 

survey zone. Transects oriented east-west and parallel to shore were used (Figure 1). Generally, 

each team attempted to fly every day that visibility was greater than 2 nautical miles (nmi) and 

sea state was less than 4 on the Beaufort Wind Scale.
2

Figure 1. Transects available to be flown by aerial survey teams during the 2016/2017 

North Atlantic right whale calving season. Thick black lines represent EWS transects.

Daily Survey Area

The aerial survey zone was too large for two aerial teams to survey in a single day, so a subset of 

the area was selected and flown each day. In general, the following criteria were used in daily 

flight planning:

1. EWS transects

2. Avoiding airspace conflicts with military operations

3. Weather
3

4. Predicted whale locations1

5. Recent whale sightings

6. Distributing effort throughout the survey area

7. NOAA-affiliated, boat-based biopsy/tagging projects

8. Aircraft availability/hours

Aerial Survey Data

Survey data collection methods followed those described in Keller et al. (2012) and Gowan and 

Ortega-Ortiz (2014). 

Whale Alerts

Whale alerts were generated from aerial survey sightings or from public sightings which were 

verified by or relayed through a reliable source. Teams issued whale alerts to marine users and 

other users in near-real time using geographically-based email distribution lists2 (Figure 2). 

Figure 2. Coverage area of whale alert email distribution lists.

 1 The FWC produced bimonthly predictions of right whale distribution using methods described by Gowan and 

Ortiz (2014). This paper validated hindcasted predictions, but not forecasted predictions (i.e., before sea surface 

temperature data for the period are available).

2 Users received email or text message alerts; text messages were possible if users provided a short message service 

(SMS) to email gateway.
4

Results

Aerial Surveys

The FWC conducted 54 surveys and S2S conducted 36 surveys. Survey effort was influenced by 

weather, aircraft availability, military activity, etc. Mean daily survey duration was 6.2 hours 

(6.5 hours for FWC and 5.6 hours for S2S, combined SD 1.4 hours) and on-effort trackline 

distance was 397 nmi (409 for FWC and 377 for S2S, combined SD = 117). The maximum daily 

survey length was 9.7 hours and the minimum daily survey length was 2.5 hours. Search effort 

was unevenly distributed throughout the survey season (Table 1) and area (Figure 3). Three 

surveys were flown off South Carolina and North Carolina for exploratory purposes. 

Table 1. Number of nautical miles (nmi) flown while on effort.

3

Month On-Effort Trackline 

Distance (nmi)*

December 7338 

January 10150

February 10030

March 7030

*Exploratory surveys are not included in total distance

The two survey teams observed and/or verified 18 right whale sightings;

4 7 of those sightings 

were first reported from other sources (collaborating research vessels, volunteer sighting 

network, public, dredge, U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, etc.). Most sightings were associated with 

the areas of highest effort (Figure 4) and were concentrated in January (Table 2). 

 3 “On effort” is defined as those times when the following conditions are met: Beaufort sea state < 4, visibility at 

least 2 nmi (3.7 kilometers), altitude < 1200 feet (366 meters), and not circling a sighting, or on verification survey.

4 A “sighting” consists of 1 or more right whales.
5

Figure 3. Density distribution of survey effort in the 2016/2017 survey area. Effort is displayed as 

number of flights in 3- by 3-nmi grid cells (gray lines). Transects are black and EWS transects are 

thick black. Exploratory surveys off SC and NC are not shown in full. 
6

Figure 4. Geographic distribution of right whales sighted while on effort (black symbols) or 

reported to aerial survey teams and verified (grey symbols) during the 2016/2017 season. Circles 

represent sightings of cow/calf pairs and triangles represent sightings of other right whales.
7

Table 2. Monthly number of right whales and right whale sightings (detected per 

nautical mile of on-effort trackline).

Month

Number of 

Right 

Whale 

Sighting 

Events*

Number 

of Right 

Whales**

Sighting 

Events/1,000 

nmi

Individual Right 

Whales/1,000

nmi

December 1 1 0.1 0.1

January 15 24 1.5 2.4

February 2 4 0.2 0.4

March 0 0 0 0

* A right whale sighting consists of 1 or more right whales.

** Individuals may have been re-sighted within the same or different months.

Individual right whales were first sighted (i.e., detected for the first time in the season) between

late December and mid-January (Figure 5). No new whales were sighted after January 13, 2017

Figure 5. Rate of right whale discovery during the 2017/2017 season by the S2S and FWC aerial survey 

teams in the calving area (calves included). Points represent all flight days. 

Three cow/calf pairs were detected in the Southeast U.S. during the 2016/2017 calving season 

(Table 3). Of these, one was seen in the Southeast prior to giving birth. The mean calving 

0

2

4

6

8

1-Dec8-Dec

15-Dec22-Dec29-Dec

5-Jan

12-Jan19-Jan26-Jan

2-Feb9-Feb

16-Feb23-Feb

2-Mar9-Mar

16-Mar23-Mar30-Mar

Cumulative identified individuals
8

interval observed across known calving females was 7.7 years (median = 8 years). The number 

of known calves produced for 2016/2017 and the previous 10 years is included in Appendix A.

Table 3. Catalog numbers, ages, and other known calving information for calving females 

observed in the Southeast U.S. during the 2016/2017 calving season. (Note: Numbers reflect known calving information – some calving events may have gone undetected. Data 

provided by the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium, February 2018).

Whale ID Age

Number of Calves 

Known to Have 

Been Produced by a 

Given Female

Age At First 

Known 

Calving

Last Known 

Calving Year

Presumed 

Calving 

Interval

1012 >39 8 >5 2009 8

1711 30 3 16 2009 8

2614 21 4 8 2010 7

One right whale other than cow/calf pairs was observed in the Southeast U.S. calving area: 

Eg3530, an entangled adult male. 

In all, four different right whales (excluding calves) were seen in the Southeast U.S. calving area 

during the calving season. Aerial survey teams also sighted 12 different humpback whales

(Megaptera novaeangliae). No other large whale species were observed. 

Whale Alerts

A total of 202 subscribers representing various industries, agencies, and organizations received

whale alerts as of March 2017 (Table 4). Some entities (e.g., Navy and Coast Guard) subscribed 

using an email address that automatically distributed whale alerts to multiple internal recipients.

Table 4. Number of representatives from various organization types receiving Whale Alerts at 

the end of the 2016/2017 right whale calving season.

Recipient Type Count

Commercial Fishing 1

Commercial Shipping/Harbor Pilots 43

Law Enforcement (Federal, State, 

Local) 21

Resource Managers (Federal, State, 

Local) 30

U.S. Army Corps of 

Engineers/Dredge/Dredge Observers 33

U.S. Coast Guard 11

U.S. Navy 9

Volunteer Sighting Networks 2

Whale Researchers 47

Other 5

Total 202
9

A total of 28 whale alerts were issued for the 2016/2017 season. Sightings were generated by 

aerial surveys, other researchers and agencies, and the general public (Figure 7).

Figure 7. Right whale sighting sources for whale alerts (includes only sightings that were verified).

Miscellaneous

Injured and Entangled Whales

One free-swimming entangled right whale was sighted during the 2016/2017 season. Eg3530, 

was sighted by the FWC aerial survey team on January 5 approximately 20 nmi east of Little 

Cumberland Island, GA. The entanglement presented as two segments of rope exiting each side 

of the mouth, coming together over the head to form a bridle, and trailing behind the whale to an 

unknown depth. The entanglement was deemed life-threatening so staff from the GDNR attached 

a satellite tracking buoy on the evening of January 5. GDNR and FWC boat teams relocated the 

whale on January 6 and removed all of the entangling gear (135 lb trap, 450 ft of rope). A 135 lb 

Canadian snow crab trap (NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, unpub. 

Data) and over 450ft of associated rope was recovered and sent to the Greater Atlantic Region 

Fisheries Office for analysis. Eg3530 was last sighted in the Southeast by the S2S aerial survey 

team on January 14 off Fernandina Beach, FL and subsequently by the Center for Coastal 

Studies in Cape Cod Bay, MA on February 19, 2017.

Mortalities

No dead whales were observed by the survey teams. 

Dynamic Management Areas

No Dynamic Management Areas were established within the Southeast U.S. during the 

2016/2017 calving season.
10

Inlet Incursion 

A cow/calf pair was sighted by a fisherman inside Sebastian Inlet, FL (west of the highway A1A 

bridge) the night of January 15. FWC law enforcement confirmed the sighting and later 

witnessed the whales depart from the inlet at 12:30 AM on January 16. Eg1711 and calf were 

sighted approximately 1 nmi north of Sebastian Inlet at sunset on January 15 and are likely the 

pair that swam into the inlet. The pair was not re-sighted in the calving area after that time.

Key Points

● Poor weather and the requirement to fly EWS mitigation lines had substantial impacts on 

the temporal and spatial distribution of effort, respectively.

● Three cow/calf pairs were documented in the Southeast U.S. during the 2016/2017 

season. This is the fewest number of right whale calves seen since the 1999/2000 season.5

● The mean and median calving interval for the females known to have calved in the 

Southeast U.S was 7.7 and 8 years, respectively. 

● One cow/calf pair entered Sebastian Inlet, FL for approximately 4 hours. A cow/calf pair 

also swam into Sebastian Inlet in 2016.

● Only one other right whale was sighted in the Southeast U.S. during the 2016/2017 

season (see Injured and Entangled Whales section).

Acknowledgements

NOAA Fisheries, U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and GDNR 

provided funding. Surveys were flown under NOAA Fisheries Permit #15488 issued to GDNR.

References

Gowan, T. A., and J. G. Ortega-Ortiz. 2014. Wintering habitat model for the North Atlantic right 

whale (Eubalaena glacialis) in the southeastern United States. PLoS ONE 9(4):e95126.

Keller, C. A., L. Garrison, R. Baumstark, L. I. Ward-Geiger, and E. Hines. 2012. Application of 

a habitat model to define calving habitat of the North Atlantic right whale in the southeastern 

United States. Endangered Species Research 18(1):73-8.

North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium (2018). North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium 

Sightings Database accessed 02/01/2018 (Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New 

England Aquarium, Boston, MA).

Waring, G. T., E. Josephson, K. Maze-Foley, and P. E. Rosel. 2016. US Atlantic and Gulf of 

Mexico Marine Mammal Stock Assessments - 2015. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFSNE-238. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, 

Northeast Fisheries Science Center, Woods Hole, Massachusetts. 501 pp.

 5 Two additional cow/calf pairs were sighted in the Northeast U.S. during the spring of 2017.
11

Appendix A. Known North Atlantic right whale calf births and mortalities counted annually 

range-wide December 2006 - March 2017 (not exclusive to the Southeast U.S.) (Waring et al. 

2016, North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium February 2018). 

North Atlantic right whale calf production, 2007-2017

Year a Reported calf production Reported and assumed calf mortalities b

2007 23 2

2008 23 2

2009 39 1

2010 19 0

2011 22 0

2012 7 1

2013 20 1

2014 11 1

2015 17 0

2016 14 1

2017 5 0 a Includes November and December of the previous year. b Includes assumed deaths based on observations of cows seen with a calf and then resighted later that same year 

without a calf. Assumed mortality may include unreported calves (i.e. not all of the dead calves had been seen with 

their mothers).