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One of the world’s rarest whale species, north atlantic right whaleScientists have said that after renewed conservation efforts, an encouraging trend of population growth is visible.
The species now numbers an estimated 384 individuals, an increase of eight from last year, according to a report released Tuesday by the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium. This marks a continuation of the slow but steady growth seen over the past four years.
Positive development comes one after another disturbing decline Throughout the last decade. The species, highly vulnerable to ship collisions and entanglement in fishing gear, saw its numbers decline by about 25 percent between 2010 and 2020.
Philip Hamilton, a senior scientist at the New England Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life, said the recovery trend is “a testament to the importance of conservation measures.” Population Estimates is a collaborative effort between the Center and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
new management measures In Canada Hamilton said the effort to keep whales safe has been especially important amid the growing presence of whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
“We know that modest growth each year, if we can sustain it, will lead to population growth,” Hamilton said. “It’s just whether we can sustain it or not.”
Scientists have cautioned in recent years that the whales’ slow recovery comes at a time when the giant animals are still at risk from accidental deaths, and stronger conservation measures are needed. But there are also reasons to believe the whales are lagging behind in terms of low breeding numbers, Hamilton said.
Scientists say whales are less likely to reproduce when they are injured or given less food. This has emerged as a problem for the whales because they are not producing enough babies to maintain their population, he said.
However, this year four mother whales had babies for the first time, Hamilton said. He, and some other, established mother whales had shorter intervals between calves.
In total, 11 calves were born, which is fewer than researchers expected, but the entry of new females into the breeding pool is encouraging, Hamilton said.
And any number of calves is not helpful in a given mortality year, said Heather Pettis, who leads the right whale research program at the Cabot Center and chairs the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium.
“The modest increase in population estimates, coupled with no known mortality and fewer known injuries compared to the past several years, makes us cautiously optimistic about the future of the North Atlantic right whale,” Pettis said. “We’ve seen before that this population can spend on a dime.”
Whales were hunted to the brink of extinction during the era of commercial whalingThey have been federally protected for decades.
The whales migrate each year from breeding grounds in Florida and Georgia to feeding grounds in New England and Canada. Some scientists have said that warming oceans have made that journey even more dangerous as whales have been forced to stray from established protected areas in search of food.