Prepared by:

• Main Authors: Northern Early, Warning System, Wildlife Trust, Patricia J. Naessig, Cynthia R. Taylor, James A. Powell, Ph. D
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: Hobbs; Beaufort Sea; North Atlantic; North Atlantic right whale
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.646.367; http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/protected_resources/right_whale/seus_sightings/documents/07_08_news_final_report.pdf

northern end of Sapelo Island, GA to mid Cumberland Island, GA, out to approximately 32 nautical miles (NM) offshore. A total of 46 NEWS surveys were conducted, logging 261.0 hours of hobbs time and averaging 5.7 hours per survey. Overall, 17,469.0 NM of trackline were flown, with 13,653.5 NM (78%) of this total flown in a Beaufort sea state of 3 or less. The complete survey area (442.8 NM of trackline) was covered during 28 of the NEWS surveys, while the survey area was only partially covered during 18 of the flights. A total of 168 right whale sightings were documented within the NEWS survey area, averaging 2.5 whales per sighting (range = 1-8). Sixty-three sightings consisted of cow/calf pairs, 29 were of single animals, 29 were of pairs of two right whales, and the remaining 47 sighting events were of groups of three to eight right whales. Preliminary photo analysis resulted in the identification of 17 individual cow/calf pairs in the NEWS survey area, with 38 percent of all sightings involving cow/calf pairs (n = 63). An additional 112 individual adult/juvenile whales were observed during the NEWS surveys. Ninety of these 146 individual whales have been initially identified from the North Atlantic Right Whale Catalog. Thirty-nine individual whales do not have a preliminary identification at this time and have been assigned intermatch codes to assist in the initial matching process. The remaining 17 individual whales