Northern Right Whale Sighting Update 1/19-1/28

I know I am so far behind and I am so sorry! Life has a funny way of catching up to me sometimes!

First I wanted to update everyone on the right whale calf that washed up in Ormond By The Sea over the weekend. It was apparently a new born with "remnants of the umbilical cord still attached". They believe the death was natural causes, but as soon as they post the results of the necropsy everyone will know for sure.

Joy doesn't think that he was one of the whales that the Marineland volunteers have spotted and cataloged this season. (There have been 8 mother and calf pairs so far)

Joy also goes on to say in the email that if the Right Whales behavior is like that of the bottlenosed dolphin, "once the baby is out of the mothers sight" they no longer appear to grieve. The behavior I read about last year when the mother appeared erratic, she may have been in sight of her baby when washed up on shore in Jacksonville after a ship strike.

SIGHTINGS

January 19, 2008

Arpeggio and baby were spotted throughout the day in northern Flagler County.

They were first spotted at around 9:45 am by the Survey team that was on the look out at Sea Colony but disappeared quickly. They were spotted again a mile north of Sea Colony just after 12 noon by someone living at the Surf Club condo. Joy and company were able to photograph and get a positive ID on Arpeggio as she has white scars that help them identify her.

They also were able to witness Arpeggio roll onto her back, then her calf swim through Arpeggio's pectoral fins and onto its moms chest. Man, I would love to see interaction like that.

The Project's Survey members watched these two on and off until about 5pm.

January 23, 2008

Right Whale #1622 was sighted in the area with her fourth calf. This whale is very special to Joy as she is the first whale Joy ever photographed from an AirCam.

#1622 and calf were sighted 2 days in a row, first in Ormond By The Sea. The AirCam was able to fly over and get some great photos of mother and calf. According to Joy's update, one photos has the calf upside down on it's mother tail giving them "a rare chance to figure out its gender" which appears to be male.

(I was terrified that this may be the male that washed up on shore Friday, January 25th and was relieved I was wrong)

On the 24th the pair may have been spotted again in S. Daytona. It was a rather gray and windy day, not a good AirCam day. The Project had to rely on ground photos and from those photos they believe the pair was once again #1622 and calf.

January 25, 2008

First thing in the morning two whale sighting calls were received. The first was from New Symra Beach and the Marine Resources Council Response Team soon discovered #1622 and her calf there.

The second sighting was in Daytona Beach by the Volusia County Beach Patrol. Unfortunately we had a low fog deck that day and was several hours until AirCam could safely take off to search for the whales.

The AirCam team found the Daytona Beach whale about 2:30pm. They believe it was a juvenile and as yet do not have an ID on it.

AirCam then made its way south in search of #1633 and her calf and found them at the north end of Canaveral Seashore. She must like it there as she spent some time in that area with her third calf in 2005.

Janaury 28, 2008

Arpeggio reappears with calf in tow! The two were spotted near Crescent Beach in Northern Flagler County around 1:15pm and The Response Team had them ID'd by around 2:10.

The Response Team stayed with the pair following them south across the Matanzas Inlet and about a half mile south of that where the pair pretty much remained until 5:15 when the Team left for the day.

In Joy's email she states, "Although we soon learned that the dead calf who came ashore on Friday evening was a newborn, the white belly initially had us concerned since Arpeggio's calf also has a white belly. What a relief to see these two behaving in a similar manner as we have observed them over the course of our many sightings".

When I saw the photo of the calf and its white belly in the News Journal, my heart stopped, my first thought was of Arpeggio's calf. Even after learning it was a newborn, I felt so much better when I got the updates on #1622 with her calf along with this one about Arpeggio and her baby.

If you spot a whale off the Florida Coastline,

Please call The Marineland Right Whale Project at
1-888-97-WHALE
You can find contact info for Joy Hammp or Jim Hain here

Also, if you are in a boat, it is illegal to come within
500 yds of Northern Right Whales.

Photo above is of Arpeggio and her calf and was taken by Joy Hampp and is property of The Marineland Right Whale Project, used with their permission.

Death Of Right Whale Calf A Mystery For Now

Sometimes, I hate when I am right. The dead right whale calf that washed up in Ormond By The Sea on Friday night was a male. So far, that is all I am right about though.

Researchers do know that the calf was not killed by a ship strike or by entanglement. First they will try to determine if the calf was alive when it was born. If he was alive then they will need to find out why he died.

The researchers are very concerned about "toxic algae" which was mentioned in today's News Journal. I'm not sure if that is the same as Red Tide as that is a algae bloom too that is toxic to our smaller fish.

You can read more on this story in today's Daytona Beach News Journal story here

Remember, if you spot a whale off shore,
Please call The Marineland Right Whale Project at

1-888-97-WHALE

You can find contact info for Joy Hammp or Jim Hain here

Also, if you are in a boat, it is illegal to come within

500 yds of Northern Right Whales.

A Sad Day For The Northern Right Whales

No photos to post today, I do have sightings to catch up on and will possibly do that tomorrow. We lost a calf last night in Ormond By The Sea. It was about 10 feet long and was washed ashore about 7-7:30PM.

When a friend told me this today I felt like someone kicked me in the chest. There was a mother and calf sighted in Ormond By The Sea on Wednesday and they were photographed by the AirCam team. Joy stated that they believed the calf was a male.

I wonder if this was the baby we lost? It is as hard on the mother whale as it is on us humans when a baby is lost. They become very erratic and visibly upset from what I've read.

They are taking the whale to University of Florida where a necropsy will be done to find out what happened to it.

We've recently had a couple dolphin wash up also and not too long ago a real bad red tide. Some of us that don't know what we are talking about are wondering if this all ties in. I'm sure we'll find out soon enough.

You can read the article that was published in today's Daytona Beach News Journal here.

Remember, if you spot a whale off shore,

Please call The Marineland Right Whale Project at
1-888-97-WHALE
You can find contact info for Joy Hammp or Jim Hain here

Also, if you are in a boat, it is illegal to come within
500 yds of Northern Right Whales.

Northern Right Whales Arpeggio And Calf Sighting Confirmed!

The Marineland Right Whale Project celebrated it's seven year anniversary of it's first whale sighting on Friday, January 18th with sightings of two mothers and calf's!

The first pair were sighted by one of the Projects survey volunteers who was at her post near "Clicker Beach" which is close to Hammock Dunes in Palm Coast at about 9:30AM.

Joy and the response team arrived soon after and confirmed that the pair were a mom and baby. I mentioned before that when I've seen a mom with her calf, I didn't get to see much animation out of either of them, at the most a wave from the baby. This particular calf apparently got very animated after awhile and did nine breaches before the pair swam off towards the east "around noon". Nine breaches.. wow, would I love to have seen that.

In my post, Have Right Whales, Arpeggio And Her Baby Returned?, I mentioned how the volunteers at Marineland were constantly scanning the ocean's horizon in the hopes of spotting Arpeggio and her calf the day I visited.

Well, their work payed off on Friday when they spotted a mother and calf moving slowly south. Joy and her team caught up to them and confirmed that the folks at Marineland finally got to see Arpeggio and her baby.

The team also confirmed that the mother and calf they spotted on Wednesday and Thursday were indeed Arpeggio and child!

Hopefully the team will be able to give us a ID on the other mother and calf. I can't wait to see who the mom is. Will it be a frequent visitor to our waters, or a first time mom?

Remember, if you spot a whale off shore,
Please call The Marineland Right Whale Project at

1-888-97-WHALE

You can find contact info for Joy Hammp or Jim Hain here

Also, if you are in a boat, it is illegal to come within

500 yds of Northern Right Whales.

Photo above is of Arpeggio and her calf and was taken by Joy Hampp and is property of The Marineland Right Whale Project, used with their permission.

Introducing Nothern Right Whales Arpeggio And Her Calf!

Last evening I received permission from Joy Hampp and Jim Hain to post this photo of Arpeggio and her calf. It is the property of Jim Hain and The Marineland Right Whale Project and was taken by Joy at Beverly Beach, FL on December 10th. They estimate the baby was at least 6 days old in this photo.

Photos like this one are extremely important to the Project for identifying the whales. If you look at Arpeggio's head you'll notice a white patch, that white patch is called callosities. Callosities are basically whale lice that lives in/on the whales skin.

The first time I met Jim, he explained to me and everyone at our office that the callosities are like our fingerprints. They remain in the same place on the whale for it's life span. I imagine they do cover a larger area on the babies as the babies grow.

Photos like the one above are added to a catalog of Right Whales that is used by many different agencies dedicated to help keep these creatures safe. This way they can track their journeys north and south, how old they are, if and when they've had a calf. They also use it to keep track of the number of Northern Right Whales in the ocean.

Ariel photos, if the weather cooperates, are incredible. Some of the photos I've seen of these amazing creatures from above would take your breath away. The scientists can get a better look at the callosities and learn more about the whales "behaviors" without disturbing them. For instance like the photo I told you about yesterday of Arpeggio on her back with her calf resting its head on her chest. We can't see that type of interaction from the shore, unless one is lucky enough to have a waterfront condo at least 2 stories up.

Some good news:

The first time I saw a Northern Right Whale in 2004, their total count at that time was about 350. Only 350 of them in the world..

When I spoke to Jim a couple weeks ago I asked him how many whales did he think there were now.

He told me they believe the number of whales has now increased to 400!

This is great news, increasing the number of whales by 50 in 4 years may not seem a lot, but given the dangers they face and their slow reproduction rate, this number was more then I expected.

Remember, if you spot a whale off shore,

Please call The Marineland Right Whale Project at
1-888-97-WHALE
You can find contact info for Joy Hammp or Jim Hain here

Also, if you are in a boat, it is illegal to come within
500 yds of Northern Right Whales.

Living With Addiction ~ Part XVI ~ Freedom?

Continued from Living With Addiction ~ Part XV


It felt so good to have him out of my life, to be free of worry, free from his addiction, free from him ~ so to speak.



He promised he would help with money by paying my car insurance and he stuck to that promise.. However he would call me, a lot. I got sick of it, I didn't want to talk to him. I was happy for the first time in many years and when ever he would contact me via computer or phone it would put a dent in that happiness.


I began blocking him on the computer and not answering his calls, he threatened to stop the insurance payments unless "I was nice to him".


I was no longer falling for his emotional blackmail.


I wasn't going to let him run my life anymore.


I no longer had any feelings for this person anymore and had no desire to be in contact with him. He had screwed with my emotions too too many times and I was done with it.


He was true to his word (for once) and quit paying my insurance, since he lived up north I guess the notice went to him and not me so I was not aware that had been cancelled until I went to renew my car registration 6 months later. In the long run he cost me quite a bit on that little temper tantrum.


It was worth every single cent though.


In October I began filing for divorce. This is where I discovered how funny life is. It cost us $25.00 to obtain a marriage license in the state of CT. It cost me $350.00 to file for divorce in the state of FL. That's without any legal help. Why do you think this is??


(Not sure how much it costs to obtain a marriage license in FL)


It cost another $70/75 to have him served in CT by one of their State Marshall's. Once I got verification he was served all I had to do was wait for a court date.

Of course, he was not thrilled with being served with divorce papers and swore that he would have one of his fathers lawyers stop the divorce. Knowing then what I did, I called his bluff and dared him to try. At this point I had more then drug abuse to fight him back with and no judge in the world would have listened to him. I almost wish he would have made good on that threat. Heck the Judge would have probably thrown him in the loony bin...


The afternoon of December 1, 2005 I walked into the judges chambers to finalize everything. It was very different then my first divorce.. The judge asked "Are you sure.." and I said "Yes" very sure of myself and that was it.

I left the courthouse feeling better then I had felt in a long time. As I crossed the Main Street bridge there was a American Bald Eagle flying low over my car, now kids, if that isn't a sign I don't know what is!

There is one last post to come one how happy I still am and how improved my life has become.. stay tuned! I am super busy right now so it may take me a little while to get it to you, but it will come!




Past Posts in this series:


Living With Addiction ~ Part I
Living With Addiction ~ Part II


Living With Addiction ~ Part III
Living With Addiction ~ Part IV


Living With Addiction ~ Part V
Living With Addiction ~ Part VI


Living With Addiction ~ Part VII
Living With Addiction ~ Part VIII


Living With Addiction ~ Part IX
Living With Addiction ~ Part X


Living With Addiction ~ Part XI
Living With Addition ~ Part XII


Living With Addition ~ Part XIII
Living With Addiction ~ Part XIV


Living With Addiction ~ Part XV

Have Right Whales, Arpeggio And Her Baby Returned?

Up until now, our whale sighting reports have been zero since January 1st.

Nothing, nada, zilch...

I went in search of our famous mother/baby duo on Saturday, January 5th and found nothing.


I even called Jim Hain, Scientist from The Associated Scientists At Woods Hole in Woods Hole, Massachusetts to see if they (him and Joy Hampp, Project Coordinator for The Marineland Right Whale Project) were out watching the whales anywhere.

Jim told me no, that no whales had been sighted, but if I made it as far north as Marineland to please stop and say hi.

I did make it that far and stopped to see Jim. I was treated to photographs that Joy had taken from the Projects spotter plane of Arpeggio and her baby.

The one photo I will never forget was of Arpeggio laying on her back in the ocean, showing her white belly with her calf resting its head on Arpeggios chest area with the rest of the calf's body resting in the ocean. Joy takes the most beautiful whale photos I have ever seen. In this particular photo, you could see the love the two share for each other.

As I left, Jim said he would call if any whales were sighted. Since the The Marineland Right Whale Project's office is across A1A from Marineland, I went over to Marineland and spent a couple hours watching the dolphins play and talking with the volunteers there who were all abuzz about Arpeggio and constantly scanning the ocean for her and her baby.

After 2 weeks of no emails updates, I awoke to an update from Joy yesterday morning with a possible sighting of Arpeggio and her calf in St. Augustine Beach!

One of the Project's volunteer team leaders was just getting ready to leave his condo (I think to go to his sector to watch for the whales) when he spotted a mother and her calf in the churning seas. (not a easy thing to do!) He immediately called it in and the "response team" rushed to his condo to attempt to make a positive ID. (Our weather hasn't been ideal for whale watching the last two days, overcast and very windy, making it hard to get a good look at the animals) Joy reports they are sure that this pair was Arpeggio and her baby! They are "waiting for tentative ID"

Yesterday was once again windy along with rainy conditions but, a resident was able to spot a mother and her calf. She called the Reponse Team, who within a half hour had confirmed the pair, but due to the poor conditions only got one good look at their heads. They did however get a good look at one of their bellies and it was white! Joy thinks this pair could have been the pair from the day before, AKA Arpeggio and her baby!

I hope this means we will be seeing a lot more of them and maybe even I will get to see them in person too!

(There is another sighting of a single whale I want to tell you about, however I am waiting for permission to use a photo to go with the sighting. As soon as I obtain permission I will post that sighting as well.)

Remember, if you spot a whale off shore,
Please call The Marineland Right Whale Project at

1-888-97-WHALE

You can find contact info for Joy Hammp or Jim Hain here

Also, if you are in a boat, it is illegal to come within

500 yds of Northern Right Whales.

Photo used above is a photo I took in 2006 in Ormond By The Sea of a Mother Calf pair. It could be a Right Whale known as Piper with her calf. She was in the area that day along with another Right whale and her baby.

I do not have persmission to use anyone else's photo's of the whales at this time, and will not take anyone's photos without their permission. This is why I keep using photos from the 2006 Right Whale season for my blog. For those of you that aren't aware~it is illegal to use other people's photos without their permission unless otherwise stated from the photographer.

Proud Right Whale Mom Arpreggio, And Her Calf Still Cruising Florida's Coast Line!

The now famous Northern Right Whale fondly called Arpeggio and her calf are still hanging out near St. Augustine and Matanzas Inlet.



Friday, December 28th was a beautiful day, and apparently there were a lot of boats out taking advantage of the weather near St. Augustine Inlet. When the mother and calf appeared one boater began to follow dangerously close to them.


Because these whales are endangered, all boats are required to stay at least 500 yds away from the whales. (Boat strikes are a major threat to these incredible creatures)

The folks from The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission were able to intervene and keep our famous pair safe. Once the whales had enough excitement in the St. Augustine Inlet they swam off towards Vilano Beach to spend the night.


Saturday, December 29th, The Marineland Right Whale Project received two whale sighting calls. Both sightings were for whales spotted south of the St. Augustine Pier. Joy and gang along with the Florida Wildlife Research Institutes's Right Whale staff found our pair near Anastasia State Park. The group was concerned that the whales would go back into the inlet (Saturday was even nicer then Friday) but they stayed south of the inlet this time.

Joy's email mentions that on occasion Arpeggio would roll over on her back and once they saw the calf's head on mama's chest. That had to have been an amazing sight to see.


Steve and I should have got on the bike and headed north on A1A Saturday, our high was 85º. Instead we stayed close to home. Maybe I'll take a ride up that way this coming weekend and see what I can find.

Remember, if you spot a whale off shore,

Please call The Marineland Right Whale Project at
1-888-97-WHALE
You can find contact info for Joy Hammp or Jim Hain here

Also, if you are in a boat, it is illegal to come within 500 yds of Northern Right Whales.

Whale photo is of a juvenile Northern Right Whale I took in 2006