February 14, 2019 — It appears that there has been some North Atlantic right whale whoopee going on, but whale researchers on Wednesday cautioned against viewing the recent sightings of six right whale calves as a sure sign of resurgence for the beleaguered species.
Whale researchers on Tuesday confirmed the sighting of the sixth right whale calf off the coast of Florida, elevating the 2018-2019 calving season above each of the past two years, but still well below the 20-year average of 17 calves per calving season.
“It’s definitely not enough to take the view that things have turned around for right whales,” said Philip Hamilton, a research scientist at the New England Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life.
Right whales migrate along the Atlantic coast each year, arriving in New England waters to feed in the late winter and early spring, congregating on Stellwagen Bank and off Cape Cod. They migrate south in the fall to give birth off Florida and Georgia.
Going into this calving season, whale researchers estimated there are only 411 North Atlantic right whales remaining in the oceans, down from about 500 in 2010.
The imperiled state of the North Atlantic right whale stock has thrust fisheries regulators, such as NOAA Fisheries, conservationists and fishing stakeholders into action to try to reverse the dire trend of a shrinking right whale population.
So, producing any right whale calves during the 2019 calving season— which runs roughly from Dec. 1 until late March —remains something of a cause for celebration. It represents a significant improvement over 2018, when none were born, and a (to date) modest increase over 2017, when five calves were born.