More Rare Right Whale Calves Seen In Cape Cod Bay

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PROVINCETOWN (CBS) – Just days after a rare baby North Atlantic Right Whale was spotted in Cape Cod Bay, there have been sightings of two more mothers with their calves.

Right whale #3317 and her calf in Cape Cod Bay. CCS image, NOAA permit #19315-1.

One of the mothers, EgNo 4180, was last seen in April 2018 and researchers with the Center for Coastal Studies did not know she was pregnant.

"Unfortunately at some point between then and summer 2018 she encountered gear and was seen with new entanglement wounds on her peduncle and back," the center said in a statement.

Right whale #4180 and her calf in Cape Cod Bay. (CCS image, NOAA permit #19315-1)

The center said right whales give birth off Georgia and Florida in the winter and travel north to feed in the spring. So far, surveyors have observed seven right whale calves this year, up from zero in 2018.

The North Atlantic Right Whale is considered "critically endangered" and there are believed to be just 411 in the world.

The drone video seen above showed a whale splashing and rolling in the waters off Cape Cod last weekend.

Boaters, swimmers and drone pilots are not allowed within 1,500 feet of the whales.