Pilgrim” (Catalog
#4340) and her calf in Cape Cod Bay on April 9, 2023. CREDIT: New England Aquarium/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, taken under NOAA permit #21371
BOSTON – As North Atlantic Right Whale calving season ends, scientists with the New England Aquarium are drawing attention to a low number of documented right whale births.
According to scientists, the eleven new mother-calf pairs are far below the numbers needed to sustain the critically endangered species, whose numbers are estimated at less than 350 remaining individuals.
Over the past ten years, scientists have documented 108 calves born, a significant decrease from the 216 documented calves born in the 10 years prior.
“There were half as many right whales born this past decade. To reach the previous decade’s number, we would need an average of 22 right whales born each year,” said Philip Hamilton, Senior Scientist and leader of the Aquarium’s right whale research program.
“It is certainly concerning for a population that has experienced a sharp decline in recent years.”
The findings come amid ongoing concerns that human impacts are negatively impacting the whales’ ability to survive and reproduce.
In the past, right whales usually began calving by age ten. Now, however, nearly 50 female whales, or most of the population under the age of 10 sighted in recent years have not yet calved.
“Pilgrim” (Catalog #4340), the only new mom of the 2022-2023 calving season, surprised researchers this year by breaking this pattern and giving birth to her first calf at 10 years old.
Additional factors threatening right whale birth rates include entanglements with fishing wire, which can create life-endangering complications for pregnant right whales.
The early arrival of “Porcia” (Catalog #3293) and her calf in March may indicate that right whales are adjusting their northward migration as scientists say climate-driven changes are creating warmer ocean temperatures, a finding corroborated by research published by Dr. Dan Pendleton and Dr. Laura Ganley of the New England Aquarium.
As the whales’ migratory pattern changes, the animals are at further risk of both vessel strikes and fishing entanglements along the East Coast.
The Aquarium recently marked April 24 as Massachusetts Right Whale Day in an effort to raise awareness of the dangers posed to right whales, to be observed annually.
By, Matthew Tomlinson, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
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