Whale Watching in Corolla, NC: An Unforgettable OBX Story
I first wrote this piece while working as the Social Media Specialist & Content Creator at Twiddy & Company, after speaking with a guest who spotted whales off the Outer Banks.
👉 Read the live piece here (note: the original has since been updated on Twiddy’s blog and may now list a different author, but I wrote the initial version as part of my contributions).
👉 View the live social post here.
My focus:
Make it informative and inspiring — highlighting the homes without it feeling like an ad
Add keywords, internal links, and outbound links to support SEO and build authority
Suggest using the guest’s drone footage as the header image — a choice that later inspired broader use of video content across the site
📸 by Twiddy & Co.
Imagine You’re on the Outer Banks…
📍 Corolla, NC
You’re enjoying a vacation on the OBX, soaking up the sun and watching the horizon blur into the Atlantic, when something unexpected breaks the surface — a whale.
That’s right! Whale sightings, while rare, do happen here. And for one family vacationing with Twiddy & Company in Corolla, the experience was more than rare — it was historic.
📸 by Twiddy & Co. guest
An Experience of a Lifetime
During their stay at Les Dunes, the family witnessed two different whale species right outside their back door: a humpback whale, the most familiar visitor to these waters, and a North Atlantic right whale, one of only ~356 left in the wild.
While humpbacks are occasionally seen off the Outer Banks, spotting a right whale is extraordinary — a once-in-a-lifetime event.
📸 by Twiddy & Co.
Meet Salem, the North Atlantic Right Whale
Wanting to help, the family reported the sighting through the Whale Alert app. That simple action led to calls and emails with a Right Whale Project coordinator in Florida, who confirmed the whale’s identity:
“The whale’s name is Salem. He’s an adult male born in 2006 off Florida’s east coast. Salem spends summers in the Bay of Fundy and winters in Florida. Right whales like him are dying — mostly from ship strikes and entanglements — faster than they are being born. At this rate, the species could be extinct in the next 30–40 years.”
This sighting, plus the imagery shared, is now helping researchers track and learn more about Salem and his species.
Helping Whales, One Sighting at a Time
When asked if their photos could be shared, the family’s only hope was that it might raise awareness of the fragile future of these giants.
They also encouraged others to support conservation efforts — like “Adopt a Right Whale” through the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life.
📸 by Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life
OBX Whale Crossing
Every year around this time, three species — humpback, fin, and North Atlantic right whales — pass along the Outer Banks during their seasonal migrations. In winter, they head south to warmer waters; in spring, they return north.
Sightings are still rare, but each one is a powerful reminder of the living ocean just beyond our shores. The hope is that with ongoing conservation, these encounters won’t remain once-in-a-lifetime events, but instead become a tradition for future generations of OBX visitors.