According to the recent study, the climate-driven changes rippling throughout the Gulf of Maine have serious consequences for the small number of remaining
right whales. Climate change is outdating many of our conservation and management efforts, and it's difficult to keep up with the rapid evolution of this ecosystem
Right whales got their name because they were the "right" whale to hunt: they are slow, come close to shore, and float when they are dead.
At present, there are approximately 450 North Atlantic
right whales presumed to be alive, and the threat of extinction is very real.
After centuries of whaling, the
right whale currently occurs as a very threatened population off eastern North America and the grey whale has completely disappeared from the North Atlantic and is now restricted to the North Pacific.
Right whales spend much of the year up north, in waters off the coast of the northeastern US and Canada.
The federal government is required by law to protect
right whales. But the measures implemented by regulators over the last few decades have not gone far enough.
"It's a pivotal moment for
right whales," said Barb Zoodsma, who oversees the
right whale recovery program in the U.S.
North Atlantic
right whales are among the rarest marine mammals in the world, and they have endured a deadly year.
Therefore, considering that grasping and dragging its prey is a common behavior of killer whales and previous attacks on southern
right whales are known (Harris and Garcia, 1986; Jefferson et al., 1991; Sironi et al., 2008), it seems reasonable to assume that the marks found on the calf reported here were produced when the whale was still alive.
Though official handoff is scheduled for the end of the year, some of Watkins' instruments are already displayed in an exhibit in the Jacobs Family Gallery, where four full whale skeletons--including a North Atlantic
right whale mother and unborn calf, killed by a ship strike--float overhead, suspended by cables.