North American right whales are in trouble. In fact, according to several new studies by marine scientists, they are in danger of becoming extinct.
Three recent research papers say the whales’ problems are caused by a combination of climate change and increasing interactions with ship and fishing gear. Climate change means the waters of the Gulf of Maine, the right whales’ traditional favored waters, are warming faster than any other marine ecosystem on earth. And right whales are increasingly the victims of being hit by ships and getting entangled in fishing nets and other gear.
The North Atlantic right whale population has been dropping since 2011, when there were 488 of them. Now there are only 357, including fewer than 100 breeding females. Not only are the whales shorter than they used to be, which scientists say is a result of becoming entangled in fishing nets and lines, but females also are producing smaller calves.
NOAA says that in the past four years 50 right whales have been killed or injured seriously enough so they probably died after collisions with ships and entanglements with gear. One recent study found that 85 percent of North Atlantic right whales have been entangled at least once.
The warming waters mean the whales have largely disappeared from the Bay of Fundy, where they liked to spend their summers, and are now found as far south as Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. They are appearing in Cape Cod Bay in record numbers, arriving earlier than usual, eating species of copepods that aren’t as rich in oils as they need.
The problem is that as the water farther north get warmer, it’s hard for the right whales to find their favorite food, the zooplankton that prefer a subarctic ecosystem. But even if the whales move south to find more food, they may have to keep moving.
Indeed, one of the research papers said that even if right whales did find the food they need, the pace of climate change means they simply would have to move again.
Right whales grow to 59 feet long and weigh 89 tons; their immense bulk makes them heavier than other whales. They tend to stay close to peninsulas and bays on the continental shelf for their food. They are docile and slow moving in nature, often eating as they skim the surface, which makes them more vulnerable to being hit by boats.
The research papers were written by scientists from the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, Colby College, the University of Maine, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Canada, the Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Fisheries and Oceans in Nova Scotia, Rutgers University, the New England Aquarium, and the Center for Coastal Studies. Some of reports appeared in Elements, Elementa, and Oceanography. Read more:
