Our third humpback whale sighting of the season approximately 8 NM off Atlantic Beach, FL on March 1, 2016. The subsurface, glowing white flippers made the species identification of this whale particularly easy. (FWC image)
The Florida Fish and Wildlife right whale aerial survey team has seen a lot from the sky this season.
They are up to 14 mother-calf pairs for the season, and other notable sightings include three humpback whales, bottlenose dolphins, Atlantic spotted dolphins, great hammerheads, scalloped hammerheads, tiger sharks, white sharks, manta rays, cownose rays, spotted eagle rays, leatherbacks, loggerheads, greens, ocean sunfish and a manatee.
FWC’s aerial surveys end on March 31, so stayed tuned for more updates.
A scalloped hammerhead shark swimming east approximately 25 NM off Vilano Beach, FL on Feb. 1, 2016. (FWC image)A spotted eagle ray swimming near the surface of the water on Jan. 26, 2016 approximately 14 NM off Canaveral National Seashore, FL. (FWC image)A great hammerhead swimming at the surface approximately 23 NM off Amelia Island, FL on Dec. 1, 2015. (FWC image)A leatherback turtle photographed eating a jellyfish on Feb. 17, 2016 approximately 3 NM off Jacksonville Beach, FL. (FWC image)A white shark photographed on Jan. 31, 2016 approximately 9 NM off Cumberland Island, GA. (FWC image)A manta ray photographed near the surface of the water on Jan. 26, 2016 approximately 16 NM off Canaveral National Seashore, FL. (FWC image)A pod of bottlenose dolphins with a couple of calves in the mix photographed on Dec. 16, 2015 approximately 2 NM off Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. (FWC image)
