13-02-2025
Whale Seen Cradling Her Newborn Calf Like a Human Mom Stops People in Their Tracks
Recently, a marine aerial survey team caught a stunning photo of a North Atlantic Right Whale swimming with a newborn calf off the coast of Florida. The whale in question is well known to researchers, who have tracked her for years, and this is her third known calf. What makes this picture so unusual though is the whale's position. She's floating on her back, cradling the baby on her belly between her flippers, a 'cradling' position familiar to everyone who has ever held a baby in their arms.
Whale moms—they're just like us.
Cashew is a twenty-three year old North American Right Whale named for a mark on her head that looks a bit like a cashew nut. She's had three known calves, and the oldest, a male, is still often seen Atlantic Right Whales migrate throughout the year, usually giving birth in warmer waters like those in Florida, then going north for the summer to feed off the coast of New England.
This is the ninth new Right Whale calf spotted this year. Although good news, this is not enough whales to keep the population steady. There are only about 370 North Atlantic Right Whales in existence, and they need to have between forty to fifty calves a year to keep their population from declining further. It is believed that due to the stress from shipping traffic, Right Whales calve later, and have fewer claves during their lifetime. And of course, there are many difficulties with making sure the calves they do have survive to adulthood. Cashew is the only living offspring of her mother.
Legend has it that Right Whales received their name because of their designation by whalers that they were the 'right' whale to hunt, but it's more likely it's just an archaic way of calling them a 'true whale.'
Nevertheless, it is true that right whales were hunted nearly to extinction for centuries. They were a popular whale to hunt because they often swam in shallower waters where they could be spotted from the land or ranging boats. Also, they are slower swimmers, which made it easier to hunt them, and after death, they would often float, which made it easier for whalers to harvest their carcasses.
Hunting of these whales was banned internationally in 1937, but they were still hunted by many international communities for decades to follow. Today, the biggest threats facing these endangered creatures is collisions with ships and entanglement in fishing lines.
All three species are considered endangered, so it's wonderful to see a new calf with its mother.
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