Ultra-rare right whale spotted off Newfoundland coast

There are about 370 North Atlantic right whales left in the world — and a Newfoundland man spotted one off the southern Avalon Peninsula earlier this month.

Tour guide Jared Clarke was taking a group bird watching off St. Shott's when he noticed a whale surfacing out of the corner of his eye.

Spotting a whale isn't unusual for Clarke, but then he noticed something odd.

The whale's head was covered in callosities, "these big rough patches," Clarke told CBC Radio's The Broadcast.

When he saw the creature's back, Clarke noticed it didn't have a dorsal fin and that's when it clicked.

"I think the group thought I might have lost it. I sort of screamed, 'That's a right whale!,'" he said. "I was out of my skin excited."

North Atlantic right whales are an endangered species, with only 366 left in the world, according to the World Wildlife Fund. 

Clarke, who runs Bird The Rock tours, was thrilled to share the right whale with his tour group. They saw it surface a few times, and at one point it "kind of waved" with its flipper.

The man has heard of just a few sightings of the endangered mammal around Newfoundland, and has always dreamed of seeing one for himself.

He ran for his camera and snapped a few photos, which he passed on to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

"I've been waiting for years to see a right whale in Newfoundland waters," said Clarke, who saw one before in the Bay of Fundy. 

He noted there was an indentation on the whale's head that he's been told looks like a rope scar, meaning the animal had been entangled in fishing gear at one point.

Jack Lawson, a marine mammal researcher with DFO, said the sighting is "exciting and horrifying at the same time."

Seeing these whales could require shutting down fishing, Lawson said — but only if three whales are spotted together, or its a mother and calf.

Clarke urges everyone to look out for right whales.

"They can show up anywhere," Clarke said. "If you're out there whale watching, keep an eye out for something that just looks a little different."

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