May 19, 2025 — A vanishing species of whale gave birth to few babies this birthing season, raising alarms among scientists and conservationists who fear the animal could go extinct.
The whale is the North Atlantic right whale, which numbers only about 370 and has declined in population in recent years. The whales give birth to calves off the southeastern United States from mid-November to mid-April, and federal authorities have said they need to have at least 50 calves per season to start recovering.
The whales didn’t come anywhere near that number this year. The calving season produced only 11 mother-calf pairs, scientists with the New England Aquarium in Boston said.