Right Whales: There Is Hope, One Whale at a Time

By early April, 15 North Atlantic right whale mothers with new calves had been found off of Florida and Georgia. There may be a 16th by the time you read this. Predictions for this relatively large number of calves over consecutive years had been made based on an increase in food resources two to three years ago. The revised population estimate for this species is now 320. About 75 are fertile females, but the intervals between births are still long. The threats to this extremely vulnerable population continue, with 62 percent showing scars from net entanglements, but at least there is hope!