Courtesy photos/Kem McNair. New Smyrna Beach surfer and photographer KemMcNair took these photos last weekend of rare North Atlantic whales seen off the shore of New Smyrna Beach. Check out more of his photos at kemmcnair.com.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Boaters are being warned by state wildlife officials to back off from a group of rare North Atlantic right whales that have been spotted in the waters off New Smyrna Beach.
The law requires boaters, surfers, swimmers and others to stay at least 500 yards from endangered animals, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission wildlife biologist Tom Pitchford told local media outlets that the whales migrate south from Nova Scotia and New England each winter to the waters off Florida and Georgia to give birth.
After winter, they return to the northern waters off New England and Nova Scotia.
Kem McNair, a longtime surfer and photographer said of one breath-taking view her got with his lens last weekend: "(He's) got be standing on his head. Can't be any deeper than that. Been surfing 46 years so I tend to get really attracted to Mother Nature in the ocean."