Right Whales, Humpback Whale, Dolphins, Shackleford Horses and Turtles - A "National Geo" Day

April 20th, a perfect day for Photo ID and we were out there early, welcomed by 'sundogs'.
all photos by Keith Rittmaster
There were lots of dolphins - adults, juveniles and a couple of calves.
Then we saw a mom and calf right whale and nearby them, a humpback whale - we were surprised to see the two species so near each other
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To the left is the right whale mom's head while blowing and the right shows mom and calf along side each other. The mom is 'Insignia', #2645, and her calf was first seen with her on March 5th south of us. Insignia was born in 1996 and has been seen in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Mass Bay, Cape Cod Bay, Great South Channel, Gulf of Maine and the Bay of Fundy. Insignia's mom is #1245, 'Slalom', who was born in 1982. 'Slalom' is the calf of #1140, 'Wart'. New England Aquarium keeps an extensive North Atlantic Right Whale Catalog.
As Keith and Nan compared our records and photos and the North Atlantic Right Whale Catalog
they discovered they had seen Insignia as a yearling with Slalom, her mom, off Fort Macon 23Feb1996. That was exciting and makes us feel good about all the data collecting and recording we do.
Then we saw the humpback whale who was near by at the same time.
We saw the humpback 'lunge feed' facing in our direction. It was very impressive but it happened so fast, we didn't get a picture.
And if all this wasn't enough, we also met with a number of loggerhead turtles.The first picture shows him/her surfacing to breathe and the next swimming underwater, where he looks like he is flying..

What a day ! And then, on the way home we saw one of the Shackleford Horses resting on the ocean side shore.

Life and Death in the Beaufort Waters - One Dolphin Carrying Dead Neonate And Another Dolphin Photographed Eating Needlefish

Yesterday (April 5, 2010) we received a call from Outer Banks Ferry Captain Bob Rust about a dolphin 'with a bag on its head' swimming with a small pod from Taylors Creek toward Pivers Island. Within half an hour we were out on the water looking for this pod. With help from Annie Gorgone, Paula Gillikin, Carl Spangler, Brooks, Keith Rittmaster and Bob Rust, we found the small pod of 5 dolphins who were each of a relatively small size, one perhaps even a calf. One of the dolphins clearly had something on her head, right where her rostrum and melon met. It was long and very thin and looked like an eel at first.
As we got closer, we could see it was a dead neonate, or possibly a non-term fetus. Although, we do not know for certain, we assume that the dolphin carrying the carcass is its presumed mother. It was heartbreaking to see and to imagine what that presumed mother must have been feeling.
She was first 'IDed' here in winter 1999 - #2565 - named "Sammy" - as one of our regular winter dolphins. We have had 20 total sightings of her in the Beaufort area and had recently seen her in February 2010. This is the first time we have seen her with offspring. As far as we know, she is not matched with any other site. The first born of a dolphin will often die of toxins, but 11 years old is pretty old to have a first born. Sometimes dolphins pushing or carrying around dead neonates are seen alone. We were heartened to see her with other dolphins and possibly even a mother-calf pair. We will keep a sharp eye out for "Sammy" to see if she stays with her group and if/when she might again give birth .

And, now for a reminder that life goes on for the dolphins, Keith took this picture the other day of a dolphin eating a Needlefish.


Photos by Keith Rittmaster. Please do not copy without permission.