Defenders' Experts
North Atlantic Right Whale: Background and Recovery
Range
The right whale is among the rarest of all marine mammal species. North Atlantic right whales range from Nova Scotia to the southeastern United States. They are usually found relatively close to shore in shelf waters though they have also been known to traverse deep waters.
The National Marine Fisheries Service, the federal agency charged with the protection of the species, has identified areas of the coast of Florida and Georgia, the Great South Channel east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts Bay and Cape Cod Bay as areas that are critical to the right whale. Whales also frequent the Bay of Fundy, the Scotian Shelf and migrate the length of the U.S. east coast.
Threats
By the early twentieth century right whale populations had been reduced to fewer than a hundred individuals due to commercial hunting. The species has yet to recover from these low numbers to healthy population despite efforts to legally protect the species.
Today, human activities cause at least 50% of all right whale mortalities, including:
- entanglement in fishing gear
- habitat degradations
- ship strikes
Ship strikes alone account for 37% of known whale deaths since 1986. Between January 2004 and July 2005, there were 8 recorded right whale deaths; 4 were conclusively linked to human causes, the others were likely caused by human activities. Six of these whales were reproductively-mature females, 3 of which were carrying fetuses at the time of death. The deaths of these individuals represent a loss of more than 5% of the total female breeding population.
Status
Decimated by commercial whaling, the North Atlantic right whale population was reportedly reduced to fewer than a hundred individuals by the early twentieth century. Since that time, despite continuous domestic and international legal protection, the species has not recovered and again is in decline. Specifically, the National Marine Fisheries Service has concluded that "the loss of even a single individual may contribute to the extinction of the species" and "if current trends continue, the population could go extinct in less than 200 years."
Though the North Atlantic right whale has been protected under the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act for decades, the United States Coast Guard and National Marine Fisheries Service have failed to take the necessary measures to protect the whales by enacting stricter regulations for shipping lanes and boat speeds.
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