To date this year, the team reports having seen at least seven right whale mothers with their newborn calves. With nomore than 350 individuals alive today, the North Atlantic right whale is the rarest of the world's large whales. Aerial surveys are a crucial part of an Early Warning System to alert large ships to the presence of right whales.
Large ships kill more right whales than any other documented cause of mortality.
Vessel traffic is intense in the coastal waters off southern Georgia and northern Florida, the only known birthing area for this population. Researchers aboard aerial survey planes cover more than one thousand square miles every day in search of right whales. They report sightings and locations to the U.S. Coast Guard, Navy, Corps of Engineers, commercial shipping vessels, and local shipping authorities. According to Aquarium research, large ships have struck and killed at least thirteen right whales since 1976, totalling one third of all documented right whale deaths. Last year was a record year for right whale births, but a bad year for right whale deaths.