North Atlantic right whale calving season shows encouraging signs with 15 calves born

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) -Researchers have reported five new North Atlantic right whale calves in the last week, bringing the season total to 15 and already outpacing last year’s numbers.

Scientists don’t yet know what’s driving this season’s uptick in calf numbers, but they’re celebrating the good news. They warn that stronger protections are urgently needed to keep these critically endangered mammals safe from boat collisions and fishing gear entanglement.

So far, researchers have counted 15 mother-and-calf pairs, including five new calves spotted just in the past week.

“We have already surpassed last year, which clocked in at 11 mom-calf pairs,” said Nora Ives, a marine scientist with the North Atlantic Right Whale Campaign at Oceana.

The season isn’t over yet. The calving season runs from November through April.

There are an estimated 384 North Atlantic right whales left in the world.

“It’s not a whole lot,” Ives said.

That makes a season like this especially important for the species’ survival. Researchers say a productive calving season would mean about 20 calves born.

But these whales still face serious threats, especially entanglement in fishing gear and vessel strikes.

“To counteract those two threats and stop the decline, researchers think they need to have more like 50 calves a year,” Ives said.

Scientists can’t say for sure why calf numbers are up this season, but they’re hopeful.

Solutions are already in the works. One of them is ropeless fishing gear.

“It eliminates that vertical line in the water that connects a buoy at the surface to the trap pot at the bottom of the ocean. And that’s how they’re getting entangled,” Ives said.

The technology isn’t widely used yet, but researchers say it has promise.

Other tools include AIS technology, which is already required on commercial vessels 65 feet and longer. Radio transceivers can alert boaters when they’re entering right whale territory.

“It means you have to travel at speeds 10 knots or slower just to protect yourself. You know, no one wants to hit these animals the size of a school bus,” Ives said.

All of these efforts are aimed at giving North Atlantic right whales a fighting chance so one day, they’re no longer on the brink of extinction.

Oceana is pushing for people to sign their petition asking lawmakers to keep the Marine Mammal Protection Act, a national policy to prevent marine mammal species from diminishing as a result of human activities.