This past weekend 20,000 people came out to the Right Whale Festival in support of one of the most critically endangered species on earth. Whale experts educated the public, vendors sold sustainable whale themed goods and kids ran around with their faces painted like sea mammals.
The festival has been held in Fernandina Beach since 2019, when then-mayor Johnny Miller invited the festival to migrate to the island from Jacksonville Beach.
“This is the best year yet,” said Festival Coordinator Cheryl Munday.
Munday said there were 115 volunteers donating their weekend to whales and the weekend attendance of 20,000 is double the draw from two years ago. The very first festival in Jacksonville Beach saw 500 people attend, or just 2.5% of this year’s total.
“I’ve never been in a community where these people are just so passionate about the environment,” Munday said, “and they really do set a great example for the whole country.”
The festival coincides with the season when the North Atlantic right whale migrates from Canada down to the waters surrounding Amelia Island to raise their young. From November through April, mother whales spend critical one-on-one time teaching their calves how to survive in an increasingly dangerous world.
Right whales spend much of their time close to the shore and close to the surface, which means they’re close to human activity. Traditional fisheries leave dozens of traps at the bottom of the ocean with ropes attached to floating buoys on the surface, creating an impossible obstacle course for North Atlantic right whales. Vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing rope are the two leading causes of death for right whales.
Lobsterman Rob Martin came to Amelia Island for the festival from Sandwich, Mass., where he’s leading the way on testing experimental fishing gear to get fishermen in right whale critical habitats to keep them safe from entanglement. Martin uses gear that releases a rope or buoy from a cage on the bottom of the ocean only once a signal is received from the fisherman’s iPad.
Martin shared his perspective as a fisherman who was adversely impacted by right whale conservation. He first dove into testing ropeless or “on demand” gear 10 years ago, when a closure shut down the only waters where Martin fished.
“My daughter was getting ready to go to college,” Martin said, “I had tuition to pay.”
Ropeless gear allowed Martin to fish in closed areas and continue providing for his family. As a lone man, he represents an industry that has done great harm to North Atlantic right whales, bears the weight of changing federal laws and regulations and is hurt by conservation.
Even if there’s more awareness, education, concern and effort surrounding the plight of the North Atlantic right whale, experts say the species will go extinct if humans, especially commercial fisheries, do not change our behavior.
Martin says there is a “silent majority” in his industry that wants to make change.
“Guys you wouldn’t expect,” he said. “I know a few individuals now who are in their early 20s who are using stuff in a closed area; this is for younger generations to keep on fishing.”
Because generations will need to keep on making a living by fishing, the younger generation will also need to take up the torch on North Atlantic right whale conservation.
Kids at the festival had the chance to grab a festival passport and collect stamps as they traveled from booth to booth marked with special signs. At each booth, kids and parents had the chance to learn about whales from people who have studied the wild beasts for decades.
“The kids know a lot more than their parents, to be honest,” said Blue World Research Institute Senior Scientist Megan Stolen. “They have follow-up questions and just seem really enthused.”
A common theme throughout the festival was how meaningful it was for the experts, educators and volunteers to see so many kids interested in conservation.
“It gives us hope,” Stolen said.
Hunter Miller is the field campaigns manager in the Southeast for Oceana, an international ocean conservation nonprofit.
“Children see whales, and they call it like it is,” Miller said. “They see the magnificence of these species and immediately want to do everything they can to protect it. That’s inspiring for me.”
Childlike wonder sparked the career of Marine Mammal Biologist Ana Nader with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
“I remember being a young girl asking questions to the experts, and them fueling my passion to pursue this career,” Nader said. “That’s why, personally, I think it’s really important to pay it forward. You never know who you’re going to inspire into following this path.”
While the path is a noble endeavor, conservation can often seem like a losing game.
“We do deal with a lot of death,” Nader said. “But seeing these local people, younger generations inspired, really lifts us to keep going.”