(Halifax) A new study indicates that the population of endangered North Atlantic right whales is not declining as rapidly as it was five years ago, but researchers say the latest figures show the species still struggling to survive and reproduce.
Posted at 5:23 p.m.
Updated at 7:24 p.m.
According to the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium, its latest estimate is 340 animals last year, down from the 348 recorded in 2020.
“While it is certainly good to see the slope of the trajectory slowing down, the sad reality is that the species continues to decline,” research scientist at the New England Aquarium in Boston, Heather Pettis, said in a statement Monday. .
The US-based consortium, which includes more than 200 conservation, government and industry organisations, says there were just 15 births in 2022, well below the average of 24 reported in the early 2000s. -eight were born in 2021.
Additionally, the group determined that there were no new mothers this season, supporting previous research showing a declining trend in the number of female right whales capable of reproduction.
Oceana, a Washington-based conservation group, said the latest figures “confirm the dire situation facing North Atlantic right whales”. He called on Canadian and American officials to take immediate action to protect the species from extinction.
“We need to keep all the measures in place that we already have and continue to work to find ways to refine and strengthen protections for right whales,” said Oceana Canada campaign manager Kim. Elmslie.
Meanwhile, recent research has found evidence that the remaining whales are getting smaller, in part due to frequent entanglements in fishing gear. Thus, smaller right whales – also called right whales – produce fewer calves.
This year, five whales have been spotted with fishing gear attached to them. At least five others were also entangled, showing injuries large enough to cause injury. A collision with a ship was also detected in 2022.
In 2017, the Canadian government introduced a series of measures to protect whales after 12 died in Canadian waters, mostly from collisions with boats or injuries from fishing gear.
These current measures include increased aerial surveillance, restrictions on shipping lanes, slower speed limits for vessels, temporary closures of fishing grounds and real-time monitoring using listening devices. submarines.
According to Mme Elmslie says these measures have helped reduce the number of ship strikes and entanglements, but she believes more needs to be done.
“Right now we’re using interim orders and ministerial discretion, which are supposed to be a temporary solution,” she said in an interview. It worked and we have a solid base. We now need to make the program more permanent, with permanent funding to keep it in place. »
Between 2017 and 2022, vessel strikes and fishing gear entanglements were the leading cause of right whale death and serious injury.
A marine conservation expert at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Boris Worm, finds the low birth rate very troubling.
“The reason is that the quality of the food is poor,” he said in an interview. Mothers simply don’t have babies, or not as often because their bodies can’t handle it. They don’t get pregnant. »
This situation was not observed in the early 2000s, when the population was growing rapidly, Worm explains. But he added that the whales have changed their summer migration routes as climate change affects their food supply. They now venture further north into Canada’s busiest shipping lanes.
Although the overall population decline has slowed, right whale numbers are now about the same as in 2001.
Philip Hamilton, senior scientist at the New England Aquarium in Boston, said the population increased by 150 animals between 2001 and 2011 but leveled off and then a steep decline began in 2017.
A sign that this species can recover “if we stop hurting them and killing them,” Hamilton said in a statement.
So far this year, no right whale deaths have been detected, but scientists remain concerned about the species, the world’s most endangered large whale.
“While we can be cautiously optimistic about this, we know that only a third of right whale deaths are observed, so it is likely that some whales have died this year without being observed. Additionally, we continue to see unsustainable levels of harm to right whales from human activities,” consortium president Scott Kraus said in a statement.
It is estimated that the population of right whales peaked at around 21,000 before intensive whaling drastically reduced their numbers. In the 1920s, there were less than 100 left because of the practice of hunting. After right whale hunting was banned in 1935, the population increased to 483 in 2010.