The Continuing Dilemma of Right Whales

Four North Atlantic right whales are known to have died in 2004. Two were pregnant, including Stumpy, already the mother of five, and a grandmother as well. The last, found floating in mid-December offshore of Nantucket Island, MA, could not be relocated for analysis, but experts and agencies are reacting as if it was human-caused. One month earlier the USS Iwo Jima had recorded a separate whale strike offshore of North Carolina, reporting the event to authorities about a week later. The day of that strike a nearby recreational fisherman reported a bleeding black whale that was alive, but missing a portion of its fluke. Five days later a pregnant right whale with half her tail cut off and severe head wounds was found dead on a beach at Ocean Sands, N.C. She was identified as #1909 in the New England Aquarium's right whale catalog, born in 1989 and most recently sighted off the southeastern U.S. in 2003.

NOAA's Ship Strike Reduction Strategy meanwhile is under review but, as hard-won and complex as it is, the strategy is limited. It covers the entire East Coast and is based on the best available scientific evidence specific to right whales. In the Mid-Atlantic for example, nine ports were identified where right whales are likely to be present seasonally. The strategy there recommends speed restrictions within 20 to 30 nautical miles of each port during those times, but how can that be enforced?

The US Navy recommended voluntary speed restrictions along the eastern seaboard shortly after the NC stranding, even though the ship strike reduction strategy exempts all federal vessels. CSI commends the Navy for this action, and assumes that "voluntary" allows captains leeway to meet their mission, but means that the next captain that strikes a whale may become an example. We hope that other federal agencies will follow the Navy's lead.

The latest stranding upped the ante, causing a semi-emergency meeting of all affected agencies, most seeking to make the strategy successful. But, without some breakthrough, it is the economic cost of saving this species that may be the deciding factor. The shipping industry, for example, while participating at all meetings, perceives the issue largely on economic grounds, claiming a loss of up to $10 million a year if the strategy is implemented. In the words of one: "this will cost too much and put us out of business". And what about non-US vessels, multinational companies and the ever-looming World Trade Organization? So many decisions today seem measured only on economic grounds.

But there is a far greater cost: how can one of the world's richest and most developed nations stand by and watch a species vanish because to save it would cost too much? We must find a way to share our mutual habitat without doing harm, or lose something far more important than money.

Innovative ways to locate the whales or get them out of harm's way are absorbing the efforts of many experts. Sidescan sonar might give a vessel some visual warning. Alarm sounds have so far proven only that most whales are likely to stop what they are doing and swim energetically to hover near or at the surface, maybe in front of the approaching ship. Whale avoidance training modules are now in use at maritime academies and institutions. Every method of evaluating oceanographic data, from satellites to water drops, is being tested for clues to right whale prediction. More than one wag has suggested attaching strobe lights and radar reflectors to every whale. But all this is not enough.

Once again CSI appeals to readers to help, coming at the problem from any direction you like, but preferably from well outside the box. There are enough experts in the box already and, beyond slowing speeds and diverting traffic, no one yet knows how to keep right whales from being hurried towards oblivion because of human impacts.

Can right whales be part of the ship strike solution? Apparently not, as too many of them do not respond safely to vessels that may do harm. Much of their lives are spent by necessity in the wrong place at the wrong time; the coastal habitats and migratory routes of right whales are shared with our very high density vessel traffic. While human noise alone has been shown to cause female whales to alter their calls, the whales do not know how dangerous we are. It has also taken us too long to figure that out.

Why do these whales get entangled more frequently than other species? They need a lot of food, sometimes eating 18 hours a day in summer; sensory energy may be focused on finding dense enough patches of plankton, especially in lean years, leaving the whales oblivious to much else, like ships or lines. Plentiful resources may bring numbers of whales together to feed in waters with a lot of fishing gear. When feeding they seem oblivious to anything else, grazing for long periods with their mouths agape, almost inviting lines to enter. With tons of water mass in their mouths they cannot react quickly and, as one of their natural reactions to a foreign object in their mouths is to roll and twist away, the result is a tightly wrapped whale. Six whales were known to be entangled in 2004, and another freed itself. CSI is very impressed with the cooperation and concern of commercial fishermen. Their gear may be part of the problem, but they are definitely part of the solution.

The North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium's annual November meeting again assembled hundreds of concerned and diverse experts trying to keep this species from extinction. While 2004 data is still being analyzed, 16 calves were born, seven later seen with their mothers in the Bay of Fundy. Where did the others go? While the calving interval is 3.58 years, four females that lost their calves had a new calf two years later. But the species reproduces three times lower than expected; 22% of the adult females have never had a calf, 24% have had only one, and it is very clear that variable food resources affect blubber reserves necessary for reproduction.

In an odd twist researchers discovered that two females had raised each other's calf. It is assumed that in 1987 Stump and Malvene must have exchanged calves by accident, probably as they gave birth close together and about the same time. They continued to foster these calves as their own, and both have since reproduced. There is no evidence of true adoption of a calf in the species. There were 128 known females, 166 known males, and 48 of unknown sex. Aerial photos contribute much to these data. For example, 43% showed evidence of entanglement, eight percent showed ship strike injuries, and males may be determined by their proportionally wider flukes. The "live" population includes whales not seen for six years, as every year 1-7 whales are seen just in time to be "resurrected". Although sighting effort plays a role, one mystery is where all these whales disappear to. Genetic clues show perhaps 12% more reproductive males than anyone has documented, but where are they? While females begin to calve as early as nine, males do not reproduce until they are 15 or older, so there may be unknown subadult males out there too. And where do the 40% of cow-calf pairs go that do not summer in the Bay of Fundy with the rest?

But it is no mystery that the plight of these right whales is due to high mortality, low reproductive rate, poor genetic diversity, and significant human impacts. And the solution is up to us. The situation has stimulated one of the largest investments of human resources in history, particularly for a species that, except for cautious whale watching, is not "used" by humans. Early in this article the need for a breakthrough was mentioned. All the information that followed was to help you know the problem, but know also that you may come up with the solution. Please join the effort to save the species. CSI will be overjoyed to pass your ideas, no matter how far out or crazy, to the appropriate experts.