Whale Of A Tale: Very Rare North Atlantic Right Whales Spotted Near Gulf Coast Of Alabama

Right Whale Sighting Is An Oddity – Here’s Why

Sign up for the Morning Brief email newsletter to get weekday updates from The Weather Channel and our meteorologists.

Capt. Bobby Kelly of Gulf Shores Fishing Charter got to witness something spectacular recently as he headed out into the waters off Perdido Key near Orange Beach, Alabama.

“Once we got close enough, finally my brain registered ‘hey that’s, that’s a whale … oh wait, that’s two whales!,’” marveled Kelly in an interview with us Tuesday.

Not one, but two extremely rare whales were swimming in the Gulf approximately a quarter-mile outside of Perdido Bay.

Why This Sighting Was So Special

The whales are North Atlantic right whales, a species that has garnered attention in recent years for its struggle to rebound to healthy population numbers.

There are only around 370 of these whales left in the world, so even just one alone would be an incredible thing to witness.

The location of the sighting is also very unusual - North Atlantic right whales typically occupy waters in the Atlantic Ocean, often off the East Coast of the United States and Canada.

As soon as Kelly posted the video on social media, he immediately was flooded with interest from marine biologists and media organizations.

Why North Atlantic Right Whales Are So Rare

North Atlantic right whales were nearly wiped out by the whaling industry in the 1800s, and their numbers never fully recovered.

Even though commercial whaling ended decades ago, the population has struggled to recover because of vessel strikes and entanglements in fishing gear.

The animals also face a changing climate and warming ocean temperatures, which may impact their access to food and cause changes in their migratory patterns and feeding areas, according to NOAA Fisheries.

Conservation groups are working hard to protect what is left of the North Atlantic right whale population, and the U.S. government announced $9 million in new funding last year to help.

Protecting right whales also goes beyond fixing a problem that humans caused - right whales are important parts of marine ecosystems, as explained by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).

“They help keep the marine ecosystem healthy and productive by redistributing nutrients from the ocean from the bottom to the surface through their fecal matter. After they die, their carcasses serve as food for other organisms,” says the WHOI.

Sara Tonks is a content meteorologist with weather.com and has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from Georgia Tech in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences along with a master’s degree from Unity Environmental University in Marine Science.