LEE COUNTY, Fla — What are North Atlantic Right Wales doing in the Gulf, off the Southwest Florida coast?
That's what marine conservationists are trying to figure out right now. And they want boaters to be on the lookout.
Click here to see what these critically endangered whales look like, in video from marine conservation organization, Oceana.
According to NOAA Fisheries, there are about 370 North Atlantic Right Wales left. They have stocky black bodies with no dorsal fins, and their blow spouts are shaped like a “V.” Their bellies may be all black or have irregularly shaped white patches and they can grow to 52 feet long.
They travel in small groups and almost never in the Gulf. Or this far south.
"Each fall, some right whales travel more than 1,000 miles from [Canada and New England] to the shallow, coastal waters of their calving grounds off of South Carolina, Georgia, and northeastern Florida, though migration patterns vary," according to the NOAA Fisheries website.
But according to whalemap.org, in the last two weeks, there have been two sightings in Southwest Florida. One off the Lee County coast. And another off the Collier County coast.
The dark dots in the map above show where there were right whale observations between March 8 and March 22. The two off the coast of Georgia are expected.
Oceana, an advocacy group dedicated to protecting our oceans, say boaters pose the biggest threat to the whales. It's asking boaters to slow down and stay alert. They ask that people report any sightings to 877-WHALE-HELP or call coast guard channel 16.
