Estimated 408 North Atlantic Right Whales Remain
November 14, 2018

Porcia (#3293), a female North Atlantic right whale, swimming in Massachusetts Bay on April 22, 2016
Credit: Northeast Fisheries Science Center

A new population estimate has put the number of remaining North Atlantic right whales at 411 - which lowers to 408 when the three known deaths from this year are factored in. After years of slow but steady increases in the population, they are declining - the worst decline being from 2017-2018 when there were at least twenty deaths and only five births in that time. As the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium reported, "From 2000 to 2010, the species seemed to be on the right track—its population was growing. By 2007, the population had increased from about 350 to 419, reaching a high of fewer than 500 whales in 2010."

The suffering these whales go through is cruel and unjust and the early, unnatural deaths caused by humans are not sustainable for the population. The Anderson Cabot Center also stated that, "While there haven’t been any right whale mortalities reported in Canadian waters this year, there were three reported entanglements in Canada. Additionally, all three of the 2018 mortalities, which were in U.S. waters, were attributed to entanglement. One of those entanglement deaths was from Canada snow crab gear." This means that although there have been less deaths, the same trends and same industries that are killing these whales continue to do so. However, as Scott Kraus, vice-president at the New England Aquarium and the chair-elect of the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium stated, "One thing that remains pretty clear in the data is that for every whale you see dead on the beach, or floating at sea, there have been two more deaths of that species. In other words, we're only detecting about a third of the deaths in the population. So when we see three in the United States, it means probably a total of nine died."

The fishing industry in the United States and Canada along with ships from various industries and origins that are responsible for striking these whales are to blame. We have known of the problem for years and unfortunately, while the governments of these two countries have, at times, put forth regulations with the intention of lowering the amount of deaths of these whales, they are still ultimately beholden to the industries harming these whales. They are essentially trying to figure out how to conduct 'business as usual' without harming these whales which is impossible due to the widespread, destructive and unnatural activities conducted by the industries that are harming whales. And, the lower amount of deaths this year does not make up for the fact that in 2018, for the first time in the 38 years that researchers have been documenting North Atlantic right whale births, there were no calves seen.

When we read lots of bad news like this and it's not coupled with things we can do to help, it can be easy to despair. Many news articles that report this type of bad news only report the facts and numbers but here at Protect Right Whales we make sure to also talk about the things we can all do to help. While most people are not directly responsible for these deaths, there are ways we may be contributing to them that we don't realize. We provide more information on our Facts page about what is happening to these whales and how we can help them. We also provide even more things we can do on our Action page. When we know the truth then together we can protect these whales from harm.

Sources:

Right Whale Consortium Releases 2018 Report Card Update - Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life

New estimate lowers number of right whales - Cape Cod Times

Only 411 North Atlantic right whales left, says new report - CBC