Slalom, North Atlantic right whale with impressive survival story, gives birth

Slalom and her calf are spotted off the coast of South Carolina. (CMARI And USACE Under NOAA Permit #20556-0)

“Congratulations on your bundle of joy.” That’s what researchers at the New England Aquarium are saying to a North Atlantic right whale just spotted off the South Carolina coast with her sixth calf.

The 39-year-old mom named Slalom has at least four grand-offspring — making her a pillar of the surviving right whale population, which has shrunk down to just 336.

“So with six calves …  and four grand calves, that’s a huge contribution to this population. All female right whales can do this as long as we give them the opportunity,” said Philip Hamilton, a senior scientist at the New England Aquarium who helped identify the critically endangered whale through aerial photographs that revealed the distinctive calluses atop her head.

Normally, Hamilton said, a female right whale can give birth every three to four years, but given the stress of entanglements, boat collisions, and disrupted feeding habitats related to climate change, a decade regularly passes between calves.

It’s been 11 years since Slalom last gave birth.