TRANSCRIPT:
Hello this is Dr. Tom Mullikin with SCDNR for Into the Wild.
During the colder months, one of the rarest large whales on Earth may be swimming beyond South Carolina's beaches. Some North Atlantic right whales travel more than a thousand miles from northern feeding grounds to the Southeast.
The shallow coastal waters from North Carolina through Florida are the species' only known regular calving area. Mothers give birth and nurse their young here before beginning the long trip north. Because the whales often travel close to the surface, vessel strikes and fishing-gear entanglements remain serious threats.
Most people will never see a right whale from shore, but its nursery is still part of our coast. A winter horizon can look empty while a mother and calf move quietly beneath it. Sometimes protecting wildlife begins with remembering what we cannot see.