Badly injured North Atlantic right whale calf sighted off South Carolina coast

A North Atlantic right whale calf has been spotted off the coast of South Carolina with serious injuries consistent with a vessel strike, and it will not likely survive, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries. 

The calf had been the first of the current calving season to be sighted back on Nov. 28, 2023 — swimming with its mother, a 38-year-old right whale named Juno.

"This was [Juno's] eighth calf and they were seen throughout November and December," said Gib Brogan, campaign director for Oceana, an international advocacy organization dedicated to ocean conservation. 

"Then in early January, the calf was spotted with serious injuries to its head, its mouth, that is consistent with being struck by a boat and it looks like a series of propeller wounds across the nose of this right-whale calf."

U.S. authorities believe the injuries will prevent the calf from nursing and that will ultimately lead to its death, he said.

Concern for Juno

Teams of experts up and down the coast will continue to search for both the calf and its mother, said Brogan.

 "I am concerned about the welfare of Juno," said Brogan. "We know from past experience that very often mothers and calves are both hit because they're at the surface and they're bonding."

He said that puts them in the danger zone where they're particularly vulnerable to boat traffic.

Brogan said extinction is "part of the conversation" for North Atlantic right whales — the latest population estimate is 356, 70 of which are breeding females, according to the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium.

"A breeding female is a rare part of the right-whale population and represents the future of the species. We need to be protecting all of the right whales, but particularly those breeding mothers," Brogan said.