The decline of one of the rarest whales in the world appears to be slowing, but scientists warn the giant animals still face existential threats from warming oceans, ship collisions and entanglement in fishing gear. The population of the North Atlantic right whale, which lives off the East Coast of the U.S., has been falling for several years.
FILE - A North Atlantic right whale feeds on the surface of Cape Cod bay off the coast of Plymouth, Mass., March 28, 2018. The decline of the North Atlantic right whale, one of the rarest whales in the world, appears to be slowing, but scientists warn the giants animals still face existential threats from warming oceans, ship collisions and entanglement in fishing gear. There are now an estimated 356 of the whales, the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium said Monday, Oct. 23, 2023.
This suggests the population is potentially levelling off, as equal numbers of whales could be entering the population as are being killed, the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium said Monday. However, getting an accurate count of the aquatic creatures involves certain ranges of error, which put estimates for 2021 and 2022 at roughly around the same number.
Tangled up in nets and heavy ropes, the gentle giants can drown when they’re unable to reach the surface, or they can suffer grievous, life-threatening injuries. As waters have warmed, the whales must wander outside protected areas of ocean in search of food. That has left them vulnerable to the collisions with large ships and getting trapped in commercial fishing gear, which are their biggest causes of early mortality.
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