On December 17, 2025, a Georgia Department of Natural Resources vessel team found a 25-year-old right whale named Harmonia with a newborn calf about 9.9 nautical miles east of St. Simons Island. The team passed the sighting to a nearby aerial survey crew from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute. The pair became the seventh calf of the season. According to the New England Aquarium, Harmonia has survived at least ten entanglements, more than any other right whale on record, and this was her fourth known calf.
Ten nautical miles is too far to see from the East Beach boardwalk, but well within reach of a boat leaving the sound. That gap defines right whale season here. The calving grounds are centered off Georgia's coast, and the whales are found a boat ride out, past what anyone on the sand can see. The 2026–27 season opens on Sunday, November 15.
A Calf Found in Quebec Changed Last Winter's Total
When the 2025–26 season closed in the spring, survey teams had counted 23 mother and calf pairs. NOAA Fisheries called it the highest total since 2009. The count rose this fall. In late September, researchers with the Mingan Island Cetacean Study photographed a mother and calf near Anticosti Island, Quebec. The New England Aquarium team that manages the North Atlantic Right Whale Catalog identified the mother as Silt, Catalog #1817, a female at least 38 years old. They concluded the calf was likely born during the 2025–26 calving season.
Silt had been seen off the Carolinas last winter, but never with a calf. Jessica Thompson, the senior wildlife biologist who leads Georgia DNR's marine mammal program, gave The Current GA her reaction:
"Sneaky Silt. She was seen off the Carolinas, but she was never seen with a calf last season, and so she swam under the radar."
NOAA's 2026 calving season page now lists 24 calves. In the last two decades, only 2009 produced more, with 39. The season before last ended with 11 calves, and the one before that had 20. The whole species numbers about 380 animals. Georgia's survey team saw 122 individual whales last season, about a third of the population, and Thompson said there was only one vessel survey all season when the team did not work with whales.
Silt's calf went unseen all winter. The whales the survey teams did find near St. Simons were closer to the island than most people would guess.
Where Last Season's Whales Turned Up Near the Island
Every Golden Isles encounter in the record from last winter came from survey aircraft, research vessels or a rescue crew, and each one was offshore.
| Date | Whale | Location | Who found it |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 3, 2025 | Division, #5217, entangled | Off Jekyll Island | Reported to Georgia DNR; DNR crews responded |
| December 4, 2025 | Division, #5217 | Off St. Simons Island | Georgia DNR and Florida FWC disentanglement team |
| December 17, 2025 | Harmonia, #3101, with calf | About 9.9 nautical miles east of St. Simons | Georgia DNR vessel team |
| December 21, 2025 | Echo, with calf | About 19 nautical miles off Little St. Simons Island | Survey photographers |
The Echo sighting comes from a photo caption in a March 2026 story in The Current GA, and the Harmonia record comes from the New England Aquarium's catalog of last season's mothers and calves.
The Division response moved from Jekyll to St. Simons waters. The Current GA reported that the DNR team was taking a skin sample from another whale when the call came on December 3. Over more than two days, the team and its state and federal partners cut more than 300 feet of rope from the four-year-old male. They attached a tracking buoy to the still partially entangled whale. Division swam to New England and back south, and his carcass was identified off North Carolina in January. The rope turned out to be ghost gear, lost by a Canadian snow crab fisherman in 2020. Division was Silt's calf.
The distances in the table all fall in water a recreational boat can reach on a calm winter day. That is why a set of federal lines on a chart matters to anyone with a slip at a St. Simons marina.
The Federal Nursery Zone Off the Georgia Coast
NOAA Fisheries draws a Calving and Nursery Grounds Seasonal Management Area off the Southeast coast. It is in effect from November 15 to April 15. Its northern edge is latitude 31°27'N, its southern edge is 29°45'N, and its eastern edge is longitude 080°51'36"W. A separate migratory-route zone runs 20 nautical miles out from shore between Wilmington, North Carolina, and Brunswick.
The rule inside these zones depends on the size of the boat:
- Vessels 65 feet or longer: most must travel at 10 knots or less.
- Vessels under 65 feet: NOAA encourages them to slow to 10 knots or less voluntarily, because a vessel of any size can strike a whale.
Georgia DNR's advice to boaters goes further. It recommends posting one or more lookouts from November to April, slowing down where right whales may be present, and using the slowest safe speed at night or in low visibility. NOAA also issues voluntary Right Whale Slow Zones, which ask mariners to avoid an area or hold 10 knots for 15 days after whales are detected there. Boaters can get those alerts by email or text, or through the free Whale Alert app.
The rules may change, but they have not changed yet. In March 2026, NOAA published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking that considers replacing the seasonal speed restrictions with alternative management areas and technology-based strike-avoidance measures. Comments were accepted through June 2, 2026. NOAA's vessel strike page still lists the current Seasonal Management Areas and describes the proposal as a consideration.
What a Right Whale Looks Like From a Boat
The species is hard to see. Georgia DNR notes that right whales are dark, have no dorsal fin, ride low in the water, and often rest at or just below the surface. DNR's lookout list includes:
- Black objects at the surface
- Large splashes
- Recurring whitewater
- A V-shaped spout when the whale breathes
If you spot one, DNR advises slowing further or putting the engine in neutral, then leaving the area slowly while keeping watch, because other whales could be nearby. According to NOAA Fisheries' guidance on helping right whales, federal rules prohibit approaching or staying within 500 yards of a right whale, about the length of five football fields. That buffer applies to boats, aircraft and drones, and to kayaks, surfboards and jet skis.
Report sightings from North Carolina to Florida to NOAA's hotline at (877) WHALE-HELP, or (877) 942-5343. You can also reach the Coast Guard on VHF channel 16 or report through Whale Alert. NOAA asks for the date, time, location, a description and any photos taken from at least 500 yards away. For a whale that appears entangled or injured, NOAA asks people not to approach or try to help. Trained responders handle it, as they did for Division.
These summaries of the federal speed and distance rules are general information, not legal advice. Boat owners should confirm current requirements for their vessel with NOAA Fisheries or the Coast Guard.
The Weeks Ahead
The first whales are already on their way. The Current GA reports that a female named Calvin has been confirmed by research teams off New Jersey and Virginia Beach, and a member of the public may have seen her off North Carolina.
- Sunday, November 15: the Calving and Nursery Grounds speed zone takes effect for the season.
- November 30 to December 5: the Tybee Island Marine Science Center holds Whale Week, ending with its Right Whale to Save Festival on December 5.
- Tuesday, December 1: Georgia DNR's team begins its right whale surveys, working with the aerial crew from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute to locate, photograph and biopsy whales.
DNR will try something new this season. Thompson told The Current GA that her team will test infrared and thermal imaging meant to detect whales so vessels can avoid them. Last winter's survey crews were working near St. Simons by early December. The calving season runs until mid-April.
If you're weighing a boat, a dock or a marsh-front home on the Golden Isles, the seasonal rules on the water are part of island life worth understanding before you buy. Pitts Wilson and the senior team at JPW Realty would be glad to talk through St. Simons and Sea Island properties with the water in mind. Schedule a free consultation.
