Right Whale Mother and Calf Identified

Hey everyone, I just wanted to share with you that thanks to Laurie at the Grand Manan Whale and Seabird Research Station our mom/calf North Atlantic right whale pair has been identified as NARW# 3123 and calf!

Here is a little bit of background info on 3123 and her calf from Laurie (read more on right whale news on her blog)

On September 6, we went looking for humpbacks and sperm whales and ended up with right whales. One of the mothers and calves was #3123, daughter of #1123, Drippy-nose or Sonnet, and grand daughter of #1142 Kleenex. This mother calf pair had been seen by the Center for Coastal Studies research team on August 22 south of the September 6 location.

Kleenex has one of the larger right whale families with eight offspring, seven grand calves (two born in 2010) and five great grand calves (one born in 2010). Kleenex's last calf was born in 2009.

Her female offspring keep up the Bay of Fundy tradition by also bringing their calves to the Bay of Fundy in their first year.

This is the first calf for 3123 and if you want to learn more about her sightings and migration pattern look her up in the North Atlantic right whale catalog. The image below is from the catalog and shows the callosity pattern of 3123.



I also wanted to let you all know that the humpbacks seen yesterday have been confirmed with the ID's of the 2008 calf of Clamp and Sonogram.

We are hoping for some calm weather for tomorrow so we can head back offshore....keep your fingers crossed.

Cheers,
Danielle