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Photo by Martha Garito
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Sightings & UPDATES
Welcome to our whale sightings and news page! Here, you'll find the latest updates on whale sightings along our coastline, as well as important news and information about these amazing animals. Stay informed about recent sightings, conservation efforts, and upcoming events. Check back regularly to stay connected with the latest developments in our whale-watching community.
2024-25 Calving Season to date
Many groups collaborate throughout the southeast United States to count and track Right Whales. As of February 26, ten calves have been spotted by research groups between North Carolina and Florida. Mothers range in age from 12 to over 44 years old.
Keys sightings in our Project’s survey area--and southward--are summarized below.
Keys sightings in our Project’s survey area--and southward--are summarized below.
February 24, 2025
One day after an eventful February 23, a determined Team 1S Monday decided to survey despite predicted rain and wind. At Crescent Beach they saw what seemed like multiple whales going in different directions. Possibly a right whale, maybe some humpbacks? When a downpour forced the team indoors, Sara examined a series of photos taken by Sam Henderson using a 600mm lens. She realized that what looked at first like a whale tail, was actually a breaching right whale. FWC’s Katie Jackson further examined Sam’s photos and determined it was a calf and the mother was nearby. We will never be certain who this pair was, but the location was consistent with where Cashew & calf would be if they had continued south from Vilano Beach.
Team 1 South spotted a breaching right whale calf off Crescent Beach on Feb 24.
The underside of its chin is on the left, and its left pectoral fin is emerging on the right. Image: Sam Henderson
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From Wednesday, Feb 26 through Sunday, March 2, there were multiple sightings of humpback whales over our entire survey range. Some were very clearly humpbacks, showing their small dorsal fin, arching their back when diving, slapping their long white pectoral fins, or breaching. Others were cryptic. In several cases there were public reports of a mother-calf right whale pair, which upon further inspection turned out to be a humpback whale with dolphins. In other cases, a whale was slow moving, showing a flat back, seemingly doing its very best to impersonate a right whale! Needless to say, this spate of whale sightings kept us and our colleagues at BWRI and FWC very busy.
Many humpback whales have been sighted this season, such as this one swimming quickly south past Marineland on Feb 26. Image: Bill Gough
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Official surveys for the Marineland Right Whale Project end on Saturday, March 8. However, given the many recent whale sightings feel free to keep scanning the seas through the end of March. As usual, call 888-979-4253 if you see a whale. Who knows? Maybe someone will catch Koala & Curlew on their northbound trip!
February 23, 2025
On the morning of Sunday, February 23 there were several public reports of two whales close to shore off Ormond Beach. Local volunteers from Sectors 5 & 4 responded and verified that the whales were a mother-calf pair of right whales. Drones were used to get identification photos of the mother. Once the photos were sent to FWC, they readily identified the mother as Platypus, #3420. She had last been seen on January 8 by FWC off Cumberland Island without a calf. She is 21 years old and this is her second calf. Her last calf was born in 2015.
Later that same morning, in South Ponte Vedra Beach Team 1N Sunday spotted a whale with a V-shaped spout. The Sector 1N leaders contacted FWC, who sent their plane to the area for photos. This turned out to be the first sighting in the southeast US this season of whale #3080, an adult male who is at least 22 years old.
Much later in the day, one of our volunteers from Team 1S Saturday spotted a whale off Vilano Beach that was slapping its tail repeatedly. Several members of the public called the whale hotlines at BWRI and FWC, reporting a tail-slapping whale. The FWC plane was able to fly to the whale just before it had to head back to the St. Augustine airport. Their team identified the activity came from not one, but two whales, Cashew #3292 and calf, who had been slowly traveling south that day.
Later that same morning, in South Ponte Vedra Beach Team 1N Sunday spotted a whale with a V-shaped spout. The Sector 1N leaders contacted FWC, who sent their plane to the area for photos. This turned out to be the first sighting in the southeast US this season of whale #3080, an adult male who is at least 22 years old.
Much later in the day, one of our volunteers from Team 1S Saturday spotted a whale off Vilano Beach that was slapping its tail repeatedly. Several members of the public called the whale hotlines at BWRI and FWC, reporting a tail-slapping whale. The FWC plane was able to fly to the whale just before it had to head back to the St. Augustine airport. Their team identified the activity came from not one, but two whales, Cashew #3292 and calf, who had been slowly traveling south that day.
February 6, 2025
Big news from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission today. "Right Whale Calves #8 and #9! North Atlantic right whale Catalog #3292 ‘Cashew’ and calf were sighted on February 5, 2025, off Amelia Island, FL. Cashew is 23 years old, and this is her third calf. She last gave birth 10 years ago during the 2015 calving season. Catalog #4150 ‘Accordion’ was sighted with a calf on February 3, 2025. Accordion has a healed wound across her back from a vessel propeller strike. She is at least 14 years old, and this is her first calf. The pair was sighted off New York, which is an unusual location for a mother with a young calf. We will have to wait and see where this pair is sighted next!"
January 28, 2025
At 8:20am, Team 2 Tuesday spotted whale spouts far offshore, north of Matanzas Inlet. Sara and Lorraine and the team headed further north to Spy Glass walkover to try to get a better view. Team 1S Tuesday joined in on the watch as well. The whales were too far away for drone photos and FWC’s team was not available to respond. It was definitely a mother calf pair, but we will never know exactly who.
January 27, 2025
At 10:45am, Team 3 Monday spotted a pair of whales close to the horizon, north of the Flagler pier, heading south. They were too far offshore to be reached by drone, and FWC’s plane was further north, so there was no chance of immediate identification; we guessed it was the same whales seen the day before. The team kept their eyes on the pair and at 1:30pm, Russ Hatfield texted that the whales were much closer now--maybe within drone range. Drone pictures revealed that the mother was Caterpillar (#3503), so named for the large caterpillar-shaped scar she received from a vessel strike when she was two years old. Caterpillar is the 4th of the seven moms spotted so far this season. She is now 20 years old and this is her 1st known calf.
January 26, 2025
At 8:45am, Team 2 Sunday called from the Marineland boardwalk with their team’s first ever whale sighting: two whales with V-shaped blows, heading south! Sara verified the sighting, notified leaders of nearby community teams. Groups of volunteers started leapfrogging down the coast, following the whales to Bay Drive Park, in Palm Coast. Jeff Greene was able to get drone photos of this mother-calf pair and FWC quickly identified the mom as #3705, Check Mark. She is the seventh mother of the season, first sighted by FWC on January 17 off Amelia Island. She is 18 years old and this is her 1st known calf.
January 10-12, 2025
Koala and Curlew continued steaming south past Cape Canaveral, and were sighted several days in a row as far south as Boynton Beach! Where will Koala and Curlew show up next? Will they continue into the Gulf of Mexico? Will either—or both—have a calf this season? Only time will tell.
January 5, 2025
A member of the public called the hotline: two whales off Beverly Beach, heading south. Photos taken by our volunteer drone pilot Jeff Greene were verified by Florida’s FWC to be the same adult females, Koala and Curlew spotted off Marineland two days earlier. Both are considered potential mothers, since they are old enough—16 and 14 years old, respectively—to be mothers. Neither has ever been seen with a calf, and it is unknown if either is pregnant. Crowds gathered along A1A as the two whales slowly cruised past Flagler Beach on this sunny Sunday afternoon.
That very same day, there were public reports of a mother-calf pair further north, off South Ponte Vedra Beach. Team Leaders of survey Sector 1 North, Kim Jacomo & Shea Lox, responded to verify the sighting, as did FWC’s aerial team. The mother was #2430, Minus One. She is at least 31 years old and this is her fourth known calf. This pair was first sighted off Amelia Island, FL on 9 Dec, then several times offshore in the Ponte Vedra Beach area. This was the first time they were sighted so close to shore.
That very same day, there were public reports of a mother-calf pair further north, off South Ponte Vedra Beach. Team Leaders of survey Sector 1 North, Kim Jacomo & Shea Lox, responded to verify the sighting, as did FWC’s aerial team. The mother was #2430, Minus One. She is at least 31 years old and this is her fourth known calf. This pair was first sighted off Amelia Island, FL on 9 Dec, then several times offshore in the Ponte Vedra Beach area. This was the first time they were sighted so close to shore.
January 3, 2025
The Marineland Right Whale Project has entered its 25th season! The Season Opening Meeting and Orientation took place on Friday, January 3 at the Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience in Marineland. Old and new volunteers had a chance to meet each other and their Team Leaders, and hear updates on right whales, 2025 program plans, and survey protocols. That same day, two adult female North Atlantic Right Whales, Curlew (#4190 born in 2011) and Koala (#3940 born in 2009) were sighted off Marineland, Florida. What a great start to the season!
