Rare right whales see more calves, but extinction fears persist

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — One of the world’s rarest whale species, the North Atlantic right whale, is having a better breeding season than in some recent years, federal scientists said.

The North Atlantic right whale population numbers an estimated 384 animals and is slowly rising after several years of decline, according to scientists who study the species. The whales have gained more than 7% of their 2020 population, the scientists said.

Researchers said the whales give birth off the southeastern United States every winter before migrating north to feed. This winter, researchers identified 15 calves, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday.

NOAA said the 15-calf count is higher than two of the last three winters, but experts said many more young are needed to stop the species from slipping toward extinction. The agency said the whales need approximately 50 or more calves per year for many years to stop the decline and allow for recovery.

Scientists said right whales remain vulnerable to collisions with large ships and entanglement in commercial fishing gear. This year’s higher birth total, however encouraging, does not remove the need for stronger legal protections, said Gib Brogan, senior campaign director with environmental group Oceana.

Brogan said the species remains in peril without stronger laws to protect against those threats. He also pointed to federal rulemaking: the federal government is in the midst of a moratorium on federal rules designed to protect right whales until 2028, and commercial fishing groups have pushed for a proposal to extend that pause for even longer.

Brogan said the focus cannot be on births alone. “We’re not going to be able to calve ourselves to recovery,” he said. “We also need to be doing more to tackle the two primary causes of right whale deaths, being entanglement in fishing gear and being hit by boats.”

There is still time left for more baby whales to be born this winter, Brogan said, but he called it unrealistic to expect 50 calves. He said 50 was not a reasonable expectation because there is a lack of reproductive females in the population.

NOAA data show the whales fared better than last winter, when they gave birth to only 11 calves. The whales have reached 20 calves only twice since 2010, and they gave birth to no calves in a disastrous 2018 season.

Scientists have said the whales are less likely to reproduce when they have suffered injuries or are underfed. NOAA said the whales were hunted to the brink of extinction during the era of commercial whaling and have been federally protected for decades, but they remain in a crisis because there have been more deaths than births in the past decade.