A wayward pair of female right whales took a 2,000-mile journey around Florida
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Two right whales take rogue winter trip across the Gulf coast
Two female right whales traveled across the U.S. Gulf coast during the winter which is rare for the endangered whales, according to researchers.
After a 3-month long girls trip along Florida's Gulf Coast, a wayward pair of endangered North Atlantic right whales known as Curlew and Koala have finally wandered back to the Atlantic Ocean.
A group on a dolphin-watching trip from Neal Watson's Bimini Scuba Center saw the gal pals along the eastern edge of the Gulf Stream near Bimini, making the pair the first documented right whales ever seen in the Bahamas.
'That moment for me was breathtaking, and I couldn't fully gather myself," said Captain Isaac Ellis, who led the tour. "Once in a lifetime moment for sure.'
Each winter a contingent of whales, including pregnant females, juvenile whales and random male and female adult whales make their way south for calving season, migrating in the Atlantic from the waters off Nova Scotia and New England to the waters off Georgia and Florida.
This pair took a round trip adventure of about 2,000 miles, based on the reported sightings.
Researcher track sightings, monitor by air
Because North Atlantic right whales are critically endangered with only around 370 remaining, researchers track sightings and fly aerial monitoring surveys to document their locations.
Photographs are kept in a detailed photo catalog maintained by the New England Aquarium in a collaborative partnership with other organizations and agencies. Curlew and Koala, both about 40-feet long, have been tracked since their births in 2009 and 2011.
The pair were spotted last fall off the South Carolina coast, by the Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute on Nov. 24, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
They were seen again along the Southeast coast of Florida on Jan. 13, but then didn't pop up in sightings again until Feb. 2, when they were seen in the Gulf near the Florida-Alabama border.
It was only the fifth time since 2000 that right whales have been documented in the Gulf, according to the New England Aquarium.
After several scattered sightings along the Florida Panhandle over about nine days in early February, the wayward whales next turned up in sightings off St. Petersburg Beach. Researchers hoped the whales were heading southward to round Florida back into the Atlantic. However, they turned up along the Panhandle again in early April, near Seaside.
Other right whales with their recently born calves already were being seen on feeding grounds off Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
On April 5, Curlew and Koala were seen as far west in the Gulf as Navarre Beach. Then less than a week later, they were seen roughly 300 miles to the southeast off St. Petersburg Beach on April 11.
Traveling faster than a boat
Daniel Mosley and his wife LaShay were out with a friend in their boat about a half-mile from shore near Pass-a-Grille Beach when they spotted the pair.
"We were just shocked," Mosley said. "We were like no way those are whales right there." They were in water only about 20-25 feet deep, Mosley said, according to his depth chart. The large animals were stirring up sand off the bottom leaving a little trail behind them as they swam.
Just as astounding to Mosley was how fast the whales turned up in Bimini, a distance of more than 400 miles depending on their route.
"It really surprised me that four days after we saw them, they were in Bimini," he said. "I couldn't get around the peninsula of Florida in a boat that quick."
Inspiration for journey 'will likely remain a mystery'
The whales, which typically swim an average of 1-3 mph, likely moved in the Florida current, which pulls warmer waters from the Gulf through the Straits of Florida and into the Gulf Stream.
'These two are really on quite the swim-about!' said Philip Hamilton, senior scientist in the New England Aquarium's Anderson Cabot Center. "What inspired them to make this journey will likely remain a mystery."
'Besides the unusual locations, it is also rare for two right whales to remain together for more than a few days unless it is a mother with her calf. Everything about this sighting is remarkable and exciting,' Hamilton said.
After Ellis and his passengers saw the whales off Bimini, they shared the videos with the Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organization, which then conferred with the Aquarium to confirm the identities of the two whales. Over 30 years, the Bahamas research group had documented 26 different marine mammal species, according to Executive Director Diane Claridge. She had always hoped they'd see a right whale one day, since they are as close as 50 miles to Florida.
"As their numbers declined, I had given up hope, but these two surprised us all!' Claridge said. 'As much as we enjoyed their visit to The Bahamas, I hope Koala and Curlew make their way back north safely."
WhaleMap, an online resource managed by the Aquarium, allows the public to monitor whale sightings. Anyone who sees a whale, is asked to report it to 877-WHALE-HELP, stay at least 500 yards away and go no faster than 10 knots when the whales are nearby.
Only 11 right whale mother and calf pairs were documented during the winter birthing season that just wrapped up. The Center for Coastal Studies, in Provincetown, Massachusetts just documented the 11th pair, Monarch and her calf, off Barnstable, Massachusetts.
The number of calves born this season is well short of the 20 that scientists say is needed for a productive season, and far below the 50 calves per season needed to rebuild the population, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare. The whales face a number of human-related threats including warmer oceans, entanglements in rope and fishing gear and collisions with boats.
Dinah Voyles Pulver covers climate change, wildlife and the environment for USA TODAY. Reach her at dpulver@usatoday.com or @dinahvp on Bluesky or X or dinahvp.77 on Signal.
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