![]() ![]() The North Atlantic right whale Spindle and her newest calf were spotted on Jan. Philip Hamilton, senior scientist and interim chairman of the Kraus Marine Mammal Conservation program at the New England Aquarium, said the situation with Spindle, her new calf, and her entangled daughter highlights the whales' position between opposite ends of a spectrum, from hope to setback. That becomes troublesome, as well, when the whales are likely to die as a result of entanglement and vessel strike injuries before they can reach that age. Right whales gestate for a little longer than a year, but they don't actually reach reproductive age until they are about 10 years old. Instead of a calving interval of three years, the trend is now closer to six to 10 years. Of those, only about 72 of them are reproductively active females.Ĭharles "Stormy" Mayo, director of the right whale ecology program at the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, has pointed out that this equates to very low calving rates.Īdding to the concern is that females who are giving birth are doing so at greater intervals. Every loss is a tragic one for North Atlantic right whalesįor the North Atlantic right whale population, every loss of an individual is a significant one, though there is added concern whenever a female is lost.Īccording to a report released in the fall by the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium, only about 340 of the animals - plus or minus seven - remained during 2021. ![]() The Massachusetts Environmental Trust's Drive For A Better Environment program has provided money to further Massachusetts commercial lobstermen’s conservation efforts on behalf of right whales and all whale species. ![]() The association is continuing to work with Ketcham Trap on the gear. Over the last five years, the association has collaborated with the Massachusetts Lobster Foundation, and Ketcham Trap of New Bedford to develop weaker red and candy cane rope that will break at 1,700 pounds.Īccording to the organization, commercial lobstermen in Massachusetts have been fishing with the weakened rope for four years now without many issues. The Massachusetts Lobstermen's Association noted that Massachusetts commercial lobstermen have already helped to reduce risk to right whales by 92%. That effort is already well underway in Massachusetts, where conservation methods the fishing community has adopted and is continuing to incorporate have been a help to the whales. Brogan and other advocates for the whales said the federal government needs "to adopt proven safeguards that will eliminate entanglement risk in times and places where right whales swim." The entangled juvenile's struggle, scientists say, highlights the need to accelerate transition to ropeless or “on-demand” fishing gear. ![]()
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