This is the third North Atlantic right whale calf spotted this birthing season. It was seen with its mother, #1204, on January 17, 2019, off of Amelia Island in northeast Florida.

(Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, taken under NOAA permit 20556-01)

At a Glance

The North Atlantic right whales give birth off Florida and Georgia.Last year no calves were spotted during the birthing season.Only 411 North Atlantic right whales are thought to remain.

After a year with no births recorded, three endangered North Atlantic right whale calves have been spotted this season in the calving grounds off the Florida and Georgia coasts.

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's :

The first calf of the 2018-2019 birthing season was seen on .

A second calf was spotted on Florida.

The third calf was seen with its mother, known as #1204, on in northeast Florida.

The first North Atlantic right whale calf spotted this season was seen on December 28, 2018. Here it begins to surface amid a large school of cannonball jellyfish off of Amelia Island, Florida, on January 6, 2019.

(Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, taken under NOAA permit 20556-01)

“It’s a pause in the bad news. ,” Philip Hamilton, a researcher with the New England Aquarium, told the New York Times.

The critically endangered right whales typically migrate from the North Atlantic off of New England and Canada — where they feed and breed — to the coastal waters off Georgia and Florida to give birth.

Only, according to an annual report card. Fewer than 100 of those are thought to be breeding females.

Only five calves were spotted during the 2017 birthing season. None were seen last year.

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Historically, right whales gave birth every three years. In 2017, the time between calves had jumped to 10 years, the New York Times writes.

Whale 1204's new calf represents the ninth time she has given birth — a feat known to have happened only two other times.

Her earlier calves were born every three years. The calf spotted on Jan. 17 is the first she has been seen with in six years, Hamilton said.

An unprecedented were recorded in 2017 and 2018, according to NOAA Fisheries. Most of the deaths are caused by whales getting entangled in commercial fishing gear or being hit by boats.