Another North Atlantic right whale calf and its mother have been spotted - the critically endangered species' second confirmed newborn of the winter birthing season.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA — Another North Atlantic right whale calf and its mother have been spotted off Florida, the critically endangered species' second confirmed newborn of the winter birthing season, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The mother, tentatively identified as #3317, is an important example of the ideal calving rate for a reproductively mature right whale female, said Philip Hamilton, a research scientist with the New England Aquarium's Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life.

"She actually gave birth three years ago," Hamilton said about a previous birth, compared to the nine years between documented births for the season's other right whale mother, #2791, spotted with a calf Dec. 28 off Jacksonville Beach, Florida. "That’s very heartening that at least some right whales are able to reproduce as quickly as they can."

Right whale #3317 is about 16 years old, and has been spotted by government surveys since 2002 from Florida to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, according to the aquarium's right whale database. She was spotted in Cape Cod Bay several times in 2016 by researchers for the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown.

Scientists, researchers and marine mammal conservationists have hoped that many right whale calves would be born during the current calving season after no births were documented last year. The lack of newborns last year was one of a handful of markers and statistical modeling results that point to a declining overall population since 2010 with a heavier toll on female whales. The estimated population of the rare whales is 411.

“Definitely cautiously optimistic- really excited as we just doubled the number of calves born since last year when no new calves were born!” Whale and Dolphin Conservation North America Executive Director Regina Asmutis-Silvia wrote in an email. “However, it's hard to forget that we lost at least 20 right whales since 2017, still have not resolved issues of entanglement, have pending seismic testing upcoming along the east coast, and need these calves to survive a migration through busy shipping lanes. Mostly praying this is ‘only the second’ calf this year and there are more on the way.”

The new mother and calf pair was first seen and photographed from land, so close-up photographs such as from an airplane survey are needed to confirm that the mother is #3317, Hamilton said.

The long-lived North Atlantic right whales typically die earlier if struck by ships or after becoming wrapped in fishing rope. Researchers have linked declining birth rates to female whales exhausting their limited energy stores when swimming while entangled in fishing rope and gear.

An annual slow-down zone to protect right whales is in effect in Cape Cod Bay through May 15, requiring larger vessels to slow to 10 knots to protect right whales. Fishermen who use heavy vertical ropes, such as for lobster fishing, are banned in Cape Cod Bay from February through April, or longer if the whales are still around.

— Follow Mary Ann Bragg on Twitter: @maryannbraggCCT.