It’s a sight very few people get to see – especially in Central Florida.

A 45-foot long female right whale and her 18-foot long calf swam along the shores of Sebastian Inlet State Park Monday afternoon.

Dozens of onlookers lined the shore with cameras in hand to catch extremely quick glimpses of the whales coming to the surface for air.

“As soon as we heard they were in the inlet coming in we went down. We’ve been watching them most of the day,” said Elaine West, who grabbed her iPad and filmed the whales just feet from the shore.

For most of Monday afternoon and evening, five Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission boats surrounded the momma whale and her calf, making sure other boaters don’t get close. It is against federal law to approach or harass a whale in the wild.


Spectators line Sebastian Inlet's shore to catch a glimpse of the endangered right whale mother and calf. (Joel Schipper, Staff)

Overhead, FWC circled the inlet with a plane to keep an eye on the pair who spent the majority of the day swimming around in one place quite a distance away from the shore and the dozens of long camera lenses.

Right whales are critically endangered with fewer than 600 left in the world. Two of them in a normally busy inland boating area make the sighting even more unusual.

FWC stopped watching the whales when it became dark Monday night to avoid the risk of hitting the whales accidentally with their boats. 

The female whale is no stranger to wildlife officials, however. She was last seen off Cape Canaveral and distinctive boat injuries to her tail have dubbed her the nickname “Clipper.” 

Aside from her scars, the whales are in “great health.”

FWC plans on being out in the inlet at sunrise Tuesday to look for “Clipper” and her calf and hope the pair have returned to the ocean by then. 


A shot of the right whale Clipper with her baby. (Celeste McWilliams, Viewer)