Right whales spotted off Port Royal Sound

Jennifer Gentzel has seen whales in Alaskan waters, but never off the coast of Hilton Head Island.

That was until Friday, when she saw two North Atlantic right whales come up for air while fishing with her family about 13 miles from the mouth of Port Royal Sound.

"We all had the rods out and all of a sudden we heard a 'Pshhhh,'" Gentzel said of the whales, which were within a football field's length of their boat. "It was awesome. We just pulled up anchor and followed them for about a half hour. They came up about every 10 minutes."

Gentzel also was fishing with her boyfriend and charter fishing Capt. Jim Clark of Stray Cat Charters.

Clark said he's seen right whales before but usually far off in the distance. They can be found off the coast of South Carolina from November through April as they swim south from Canada to warmer calving grounds off the Georgia and Florida coasts.

Only about 300 are believed to exist, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Their population was hunted to near extinction because they were the "right" whales to hunt -- slow-moving, with buoyant bodies that float after they're killed. Now they're on the federally endangered species list.

Though the whales are no longer hunted, their leading cause of death is collisions with ships. They tend to travel across major shipping lanes about 4 to 25 miles offshore.

To further protect the species, NOAA recently enacted a new rule requiring vessels to slow to 10 knots or less, or about 12 mph, in 17 East Coast shipping ports from Boston to Port Canaveral, Fl., including those in Charleston and Savannah.

NOAA is also tracking the whales' migration with the help of the New York-based Wildlife Trust. The scientists have conducted six aerial surveys off the coast of South Carolina since Nov. 15 and have spotted the whales twice.

Dianna Schulte, the Trust's aerial survey team leader for South Carolina, said two adult females were seen Nov. 23 off Charleston waters. The next day, she spotted an adult female swimming with a mother and calf off Hilton Head.

Gentzel is convinced the two whales spotted Friday were a mother and calf duo, but Schulte doesn't think so.

Scientists can identify the whales because each one has a unique pattern of wart like patches on their heads. Some also have scars or other irregularities.

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More about North Atlantic Right Whales



Courtesy: NOAA

The moan call

This "moan" call is an eerie, wavering note that lasts about 4 seconds.



The scream call

Right whales often make brief, shrill "scream" calls when they gather in groups at the surface. These common gatherings center around a particular female, but they can include 30 or more males, females, and calves, all milling around, splashing, and calling.



Audio courtesy Cornell Lab of Ornithology
For more audio, go to this Web site.

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Though she could not confirm the identity, Schulte believes Gentzel saw a whale named Punctuation, which is identified by her tail or fluke. Punctuation is due to have a calf this spring.

Schulte said the whales normally travel in groups of two or three. Sometimes juveniles can travel in packs up to a dozen, she said.

The trust has been conducting surveys of the whales since 2004. Schulte said this year's data is important since it might help NOAA learn if the new ship speed rule is protecting the whales from collision deaths.

Whenever she spots a right whale, Schulte notifies all vessels so they know to keep an eye out for the marine mammoth.

Gentzel and Clark also made sure to notify other nearby boats.

"This time of year I mention it to people that you might get lucky enough to see one, but it's very rare," Clark said. "Just to be in the right place at the right time is tough. It's nice of them to pop up right beside us and give us a show."