It was an "incredible" sight to see in the Gulf of Maine, when three right whales, including a mother and her 10-month-old calf, were spotted this week, said the New England Aquarium.
Aquarium aerial observers said they were flying over the Wilkinson Basin when they saw Pediddle and her calf skim feeding.
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"It was incredible to watch these right whales feeding at the surface, especially Pediddle's calf learning to feed alongside its mother," Katherine McKenna, an assistant scientist in the New England Aquarium's Anderson Cabot Center, said on Thursday.
The calf, who was first spotted in the southeastern U.S. calving grounds earlier this year, is the ninth documented calf of Pediddle, who's about 45 years old, said the aquarium.
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The New England Aquariums said a few hours later, a third whale, Mohawk, was seen in Portland. The 49-year-old male was "feeding among a group of basking sharks."
The aquarium said that in recent weeks, right whales have been on the move along the East Coast.
"Warming waters in the northern Atlantic Ocean have led to shifts in right whale habitat use, making them vulnerable to human-caused threats in certain areas," said the aquarium.
According to the New England Aquarium, North Atlantic right whales are one of the most endangered large whales species in the world. There are about 350 of them remaining in the population.
Aside from right whales, aquarium scientists said this fall, they've documented a total of 88 humpback and 121 endangered fin whale sightings in the Gulf of Maine.
The scientists said they also spotted an endangered blue whale this week about 25 miles south of Boothbay.
