Each winter the North Atlantic right whale – Georgia’s official state marine mammal – migrates down to the Georgia coast to give birth in warmer waters before traveling back up north to the colder seas off the coast of New England and Novia Scotia. Georgia scientists remain heavily involved in monitoring the critically-endangered whales, which with fewer than 350 individuals remaining are among the most threatened species on earth. Researchers from the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography are deploying new technology to help listen for whale sounds in the form of a torpedo-shaped glider called Argus, which will travel off the coast of the Port of Savannah, listening to whale sounds to determine their location and then transmit that info. to both commercial and recreational boaters to have them steer clear. Last season there were 16 reported new calves, and scientists hope that by increasing awareness they can stave off boating accidents and increase that number when the right whales return south later this year.
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