Rare footage shows endangered North Atlantic right whale swimming with calf

CAPE COD BAY, Mass. -- A North Atlantic right whale and her calf were spotted in the Cape Cod Bay in Massachusetts on March 27.

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution posted the footage to YouTube and said it shows a right whale called Spindle feeding and swimming with her calf.

The critically-endangered species usually travels to the New England coast in the spring, according to NOAA Fisheries.

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A fourth of the total population was spotted off the coast of Cape Cod last week, the Boston Globe reported.

The Cape Cod Canal was closed for more than five hours while a female North Atlantic right whale and her calf were escorted as they swam through the canal Sunday, CNN reported.