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Some endangered North Atlantic Right Whales coming back to NC, possibly to give birth

WHQR | By Rachel Keith

Published November 13, 2026 at 3:32 PM EST

This week, a new mom North Atlantic Right Whale Curlew was seen with her calf off the coast of Florida. It's the first sighting of the calving season. FWC Research Institute wrote on Facebook, "On November 10, 2026, North Atlantic right whale Catalog #4190, “Curlew,” and her newborn calf were spotted approximately 11 nautical miles off St. Augustine Inlet, Florida!"

North Atlantic Right whales are on the move off of the North Carolina coast, as it’s the start of the calving season. Marine scientists are on alert, watching for the endangered species.

UNCW’s marine mammal stranding coordinator, Dr. Tiffany Keenan, said the North Atlantic Right Whales are heading south from their feeding grounds to give birth. She said they recently got word that a well-known right whale, Calvin, had been sighted.

“She's given birth twice now off Johnnie Mercers' pier, once in 2008, and then four years later to the day in 2012. And now she's passing back through the area, and we're very hopeful that she may be carrying a calf,” she said.

But North Atlantic Right Whales are one of the most critically endangered whale species. There are about 70 reproductive females left – out of a total population of 360.

Keenan said boats need to slow down for the Right whales, as they are slow-moving, and moms and calves are typically dark in color and thus harder to spot.

“So there are speed zones that require commercial vessels to slow down to 10 knots as they come through the area in these critical habitat areas where moms and calves are known to be traveling. Some of that is in the process of going through review and changing, but for now, vessels still are supposed to slow down to 10 knots,” she said.

Keenan said that if her team spots one of the whales, they’ll immediately contact mariners to let them know they're in the area.

Michelle Bivins is a senior field representative for the Carolinas with Oceana, a non-profit environmental advocacy group. She also issued an alert that a right whale had been spotted off Oregon Inlet, which connects Pamlico Sound to the Atlantic Ocean.

The first sighting of a North Atlantic Right Whale off the coast of NC. FWC Institute wrote on Facebook, "Another adult female, Catalog #2223, “Calvin,” has also been spotted migrating south toward the Southeast U.S. calving grounds. Each year, North Atlantic right whales travel south along the Atlantic coast. Pregnant females give birth and nurse their calves during the winter months (November 15–April 15), primarily in waters off Florida and Georgia."

Bivins shared concerns that the federal government is looking to dismantle some of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) — and that Congress is attempting to delay “critical protections for right whales from deadly fishing gear entanglements.”

Bivins said back in 2022, Congress delayed “necessary and planned regulations to protect North Atlantic Right Whales from entanglement related to New England’s lobster and Jonah crab fisheries through the end of 2028,” adding, “Earlier this year, a bill (H.R. 9436) was introduced that would extend that delay an additional seven years to 2035. This bill has since passed the U.S. House of Representatives and we are deeply concerned that the bill will be added to the must-pass appropriations legislation as it was previously.”

As for the ESA, the federal government is essentially changing the meaning around “harm” in the protection language.

The Associated Press reports that, “For decades, the government defined harm broadly to include encroachments on places with threatened and endangered animals. The change announced [in July] would allow oil and gas drilling, mining, logging, and other development on critical wildlife habitats so long as the animals themselves aren't killed or injured.”

Federal officials argued that agencies should follow the plain meaning of the word and not allow administrative bodies to 'extend' that meaning. Last month, the Trump Department of Justice supported the more restrictive interpretation, saying "overreach burdens American families and businesses." Several industry groups, including the American Petroleum Institute and the Associated General Contractors of America, also supported the move, citing unnecessary bureaucratic burdens.

As NPR reported in July, environmental groups are challenging these changes in court.

“The combination of these actions would absolutely devastate recovery efforts for these whales,” Bivins said.

However, in happier news for advocates, Megan Jordan, senior communications manager for Oceana, said that this week, North Atlantic Right Whale first-time mom Curlew, who’s 16 years old, was sighted with the season's first calf near the St. Augustine Inlet off the coast of Florida.

The organization adds that the 2025 calving season was the best one in over 15 years, with 24 calves being born.

Prior reporting, resources