North Atlantic Right Whale Tag and Drone Video, 22 November 2022 - Best Viewed in HD or 4K Setting

Aerial and vessel team effort yields absolutely brilliant results with seven humpback whales and two critically endangered North Atlantic right whales sighted off the coast of Virginia!
NARWs were first spotted by the survey plane less than a mile from the coast near False Cape State Park, traveling slowly south, and confirmed to be ‘Smoke’ and ‘Caterpillar’ - both reproductive-aged females. This was truly one of those days where everything came together as planned with the plane notifying HDR's boat-based research crew of the sighting which ultimately resulted in a high-resolution CATS suction-cup tag equipped to log detailed dive and surface behavior, hydrophone for acoustic behavior, and 4K camera being deployed on Smoke. Tag with 10+ hours of data released as planned Wednesday morning about 20 NM to the south of where we were with the whales the day before.
Lots to go through on all data fronts, but a few highlights of the edited video clips include drone from above, tag deployment, tag on whale, other whale Caterpillar slowly cruising over the top of Smoke with a gentle touch of her pectoral fin (that's around the 5:05 minute mark), and both whales slowly cruising south as the sun goes down.
As you view, note just how little of the whale's body breaks the surface making them virtually invisible for boaters to spot in the calmest of conditions. Caterpillar has already had a near-lethal vessel strike when she was a juvenile - note the scars along her right side in the video.
This project is funded by United States Fleet Forces Command and managed by Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Atlantic under the U.S. Navy Marine Species Monitoring program www.navymarinespeciesmonitori...
All research was conducted under NMFS Scientific Research Permit 21482 issued to Dan Engelhaupt. Sorry, but you are NOT authorized to copy the video without permission.
A sincere thanks to the vessel and aerial teams made up of researchers from HDR Inc., Amy Engelhaupt Consulting, Jackie Bort-Thornton from NAVFAC Atlantic, Todd Pusser, Kristin Rayfield from Rudee Tours, Smoke Show Sportfishing, Technology Service Corporation, and Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute. Another big thank you to Katie Jackson at FWC for rapid ID confirmation of both whales while the plane was circling and the boat was approaching in the field!