Rare Right Whale And Her Calf Spotted Off SWFL Coast: Reports

BOCA GRANDE, FL — A rare North Atlantic right whale and her calf were spotted Saturday off the coast of Southwest Florida, according to reports.

The critically endangered whales were seen in waters off Boca Grande by Andre Lawrence, his family and friends, WINK reported.

Lawrence told WINK that he initially thought the whales, which he was viewing from afar, were trees in the water.

"So told my buddies, let's go fishing by the tree. See if we hit triple tails out there,” he said, adding, "Got closer to it, end up being two big old whales.”

He called it “a magical experience.”

Peter Busch, anchor for Gulf Coast News NBC, shared their video of the sighting to his social media page. The video can be seen here.

“Holy crap,” a man can be heard saying in a video of the sighting before pausing and saying, “Oh, there’s two of them.”

Another man is heard saying, “What are whales doing here?”

Busch wrote about the video, “Incredible whale sighting off Boca Grande! That’s Millipede, a rare North Atlantic right whale known for surviving a severe boat strike when she was younger. She was just spotted … with her calf near Little Gasparilla Pass. I love [the] sound from her blowhole!”

The North Atlantic right whale, Eubalaena glacialis, is among the most endangered of the world's large whales, according to the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission.

There are only about 500 of the whales left, having historically been depleted by commercial whaling, and, more recently, boat strikes and fishing gear entanglements, the agency said.

The coastal waters off Florida and Georgia are the only known calving area for North Atlantic right whales, typically between November and April, and these waters have been designated as right whale critical habitat by NOAA Fisheries, FWC said.

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