Flagler County raises awareness for North Atlantic right whales

When North Atlantic right whales come to the Northeast Florida coastline in December to give birth to calves, Frank Gromling answers their call.

As the owner of Ocean Publishing in Flagler Beach, Fla., and a dedicated volunteer with the Marineland Right Whale Survey Project, his objective is to educate the public about the dangers facing right whales and other endangered species.

“I was in international business,” said Gromling, who has worked with the Marineland Right Whale Survey Project since its start in 2001. “I got into publishing to explain the plight of the right whale. I want to maximize the awareness, to let people know that we’re here. This is what we’re doing.”

Ocean Publishing—a small publishing house focused on nonfiction accounts of nature, marine life, environment and conservation—held an art exhibit called “Ocean Giants” on Friday, Feb. 18. The show featured paintings by commissioned artist Rick Cannizzaro of orca, sperm, minke and right whales.

The exhibit centers on raising awareness for endangered whales—specifically the right whale—as news broke on Feb. 2 of a 2-year-old right whale found dead near the Crescent Beach shore, entangled in fishing tackle.

Cannizzaro’s two previous art exhibits held at Ocean Publishing corresponded to the release of new books. Gromling said Loggerhead turtle exhibit promoted his own book “Tracks in the Sand” and the “Wonders of the Reef” exhibit served as a parallel to Jean-Michel Cousteau’s “Explore the Southeast Marine Sanctuaries.”

However, this show is appropriate for the calving season, which takes place from December to March or April, depending on pregnancy.

“There is a great species here,” Gromling said. “It’s a miracle that happens here every year.”

Gromling authored and published the book “Frank’s Whales” in 2003 and said he has studied right whales all his life.

According to a report released by the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium, based in Boston, only 473 right whales exist in the world. While the whales no longer face commercial hunting, the report said humans threaten their recovery. Right whales sustain injuries from collisions with ships and often die from fishing gear, the report said.

Cannizzaro, who worked in facilities management at Florida State University for 25 years and has painted portraits of civic leaders, college presidents and Congress members, said he hopes his paintings will help preserve and protect endangered species for future generations, “so they’ll always be here.” Ten percent of the proceeds from the exhibit will benefit the Marineland Right Whale Survey Project, he said in an article published on Flaglerlive.com.

“My goal is to keep painting endangered species,” Cannizzaro, 62, said. “I have a passion to make the next generation aware of these creatures. I’m an endangered species. I want my grandkids to see the same things I see.”

Jim Hain, PhD., senior scientist with the Marineland Right Whale Survey Project, said art is essential to right whale awareness and protection.

“There is a connection between art and science and people are responding,” he said. “Science is a brain thing and art is an emotional, heart thing. [In creating a connection between the two], we’re engaging people in another dimension. Another aspect is necessary.”

The Marineland Right Whale Project website said the project exists to inform the public of human impacts to right whale fatalities and injuries. The project also monitors population, identifies whales, surveys popular whale sites, and documents movement and behavior, the website said.

Some volunteers, called first responders, react to calls from coastal residents through a whale sighting hotline written on a business card and distributed by volunteers to Northeast Florida residents each season, Gromling said. The Marine Resources Council in Palm Bay, Fla., operates the hotline.

According to the project’s website, volunteer-based teams patrol the Northeast Florida coast from St. Augustine Beach to Ponce Inlet, about 50 nautical miles, and alert Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission if any injured or dying whales are spotted.

“We play an accessory role,” said Gromling, who said he served as Marineland project assistant and first responder to whale sightings until his business required most of his time. “If we see a dead or dying animal, we make the calls [to the wildlife commission]. That’s their primary job. They’re the leader on that.”

Gromling said project volunteers, who work four hours a day for 10 weeks, contribute to “scientific level research” on the species. He also said the project has grown from 40 volunteers to over 200.

“The people who live here volunteer their time,” Gromling said. “If they’re out working [near the beach] or swimming, they can make a call. Twenty to 25 percent of project volunteers are snowbirds.”

Marineland Right Whale Survey Project coordinator Joy Hampp said volunteers “have grown tremendously” since the start of the project.

“There was a great majority of people, in 2001, who didn’t know that the whales were here,” she said. “Now, they say: ‘we’ve got our card.’ There are more spotters, more people looking. They are aware that they need to make a phone call.”

As funding for the project is “difficult,” Hampp said state and federal governments are responding to the cause. She also said Florida Atlantic University, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute and the Protect Florida Whales license plate also benefit the project.

“We also receive support from other conservation foundations and private donors,” she said. “Some of our own volunteers will write us a check.”

Gromling said he believes that volunteerism helps the project to survey such a large area.

“Citizens and residents are making a difference,” he said. “They donate time and gasoline. They’re also donating their enthusiasm, which is contagious. It’s more important, even, than gasoline.”

While Gromling said the death of the female right whale in Crescent Beach means that five or more calves “aren’t going to be around for the population,” Hain said the whale’s death helps to raise awareness among locals.

“It reminds us that human impacts on whales are real,” he said. “The fishing gear was picked up north of us—as far north as Canada. We see the geographic dimensions of the problem.”

He also said because Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission sedated the whale on Jan. 15 to prevent aggression and resistance from the whale, the efforts might benefit other operations to sedate whales in the future.

“We hate to lose a reproductive female, “Hain said. “But sedation is not an easy task, with getting the dosage correct. There’s also the reverse sedation [to wake up the animal], which is also quite difficult. Something was learned.”

Hampp agrees.

“[The female’s death] definitely slows the recovery [of the species] a little bit more,” she said. “But it may benefit a whale in the future.”

Gromling said he plans to continue holding right whale presentations at Gamble Rogers State Recreation Area in Flagler Beach—he spoke to 125 people on Feb. 18. He also said he speaks to civic, religious and school groups about the whale project. He said he plans to publish a right whale guide through Ocean Publishing as well.

“It’ll have everything about right whales, with lots of pictures,” he said.

Plans for the Marineland Right Whale Project include advancements to spotting and monitoring right whales, Hain said. He said he hopes to acoustically monitor and record right whale sounds to learn more about their behavior and biology.

Despite not being “as active” with the right whale project as he used to be, Gromling said the project is achieving its goal of informing and educating residents.

“They have a blog and websites,” Gromling said. “The project is doing a good job. The reality is: there wouldn’t be a project without scientists like Jim and Joy.”

By: Emily Hoover
ehoover@flagler.edu
Photos by: Robert Heinrich
robert_heinrich@me.com