How many North Atlantic right whales are there and how many died in 2024?

The population of the North Atlantic Right Whale has increased slightly in recent years, although scientists emphasize that the critically endangered species still faces significant ongoing threats from human activities, according to a recent report from the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium.

Each year, the consortium publishes an annual population estimate for the species based on the most current data, including calves added to the population since the previous year.

In a report released last week at the consortium’s annual meeting in Providence, Rhode Island, scientists used this updated data to calculate annual estimates of the whale population since 1990. The recently released estimate for 2023 is 372, including 12 calves per year.

The encouraging news is that the trend for this strain has shown a slow increase since 2020, when it reached a low of 358. These estimates are the result of a collaboration between scientists at the New England Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“Seeing population estimates increase gives us hope that what has felt like a free fall over the past decade may be behind us,” said Heather Pettis, a research scientist at the Anderson Cabot Center and chair of the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium.

“While we still have a lot of work to do to ensure that this species not only recovers but also thrives, it feels really good to be able to share a little bit of positive news.”

Scientists are also sharing reports of whale deaths, entanglements and ship strikes at this week’s consortium meeting, and the news is less positive.

So far in 2024, five whale deaths and four more lost calves have been observed, the highest annual mortality rate since 2019. Causes of death were identified as chronic entanglement for one whale and ship strikes for three.

One of the whales could not be collected for assessment. These nine deaths could very well lower the 2024 population estimate if it is generated next year.

“While entanglements remain the leading cause of death and injury, there were at least six injuries or deaths from ship strikes this year, underscoring the importance of tackling this problem urgently. The continued convergence of more than 50 whales in the New York shipping lane this summer further underlines this,” said Pettis.

Several of the 2024 deaths highlight the nature of human-induced injuries to whales. A three-year-old female entangled for more than 17 months was malnourished and had a rope embedded deep in her tail when she was found dead in January.

A female who was at least 35 years old and had given birth to her sixth calf this year died in March from a ship strike. Her dependent calf is presumed dead.

The 2024 calf of the whale Juno was struck by a ship sometime between December 9, 2023 and January 3, 2024 and suffered significant propeller injuries to her head.

The calf was deformed and observed bleeding several times. The calf was last seen alive on February 27. On March 2, Juno was sighted without her calf, and the calf was found dead the next day.

In addition to the five documented deaths and four lost calves to date, analysis by scientists at the aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center reveals that 13 human-caused whale injuries occurred in 2024, including seven entanglements from fishing gear with attached equipment, four entanglement injuries. (without equipment) and two ship strikes.

“After seven years of steady decline between 2013 and 2020, this reversal of the population trend of recent years is welcome news. I wish we could conclude that this paints a rosy picture for the future, but the deaths and serious injuries in 2024 are sobering,” said Philip Hamilton, senior scientist at the Anderson Cabot Center and curator of the identification database for the consortium.

“While the whales may be adapting to a rapidly changing environment, the continued high mortality rate and serious injuries clearly demonstrate that we must continue to adapt and evolve our management.”

Efforts to protect the North Atlantic right whale, one of the most endangered large whale species in the world, involve conservationists, scientists, government agencies, and the fishing and shipping industries from both the United States and Canada.

Despite these efforts, entanglements and ship strikes continue to threaten the species’ survival and additional measures are needed.

Progress in ropeless or “on-demand” fishing technology is promising, although widespread implementation will require significant financial support to escalate production of the fishing gear and provide training and support to the fishing industry to adopt fishing gear use. to take.

NOAA has also worked to develop vessel speed limits that will better protect North Atlantic right whales while ensuring both the species and the economy thrive.

Calf numbers in this decade have improved from those in the 2010s, but are still below what scientists saw in the 2000s. Twenty calves were born this past calving season – eight more than last year – but that increase was sharply reduced by the deaths of at least five of those calves in the spring.

Four of the mothers have calved for the first time, which is encouraging as many adult females have delayed their first calving in recent years.

“The 2024 calving year has been an emotional rollercoaster ride for those of us in the whaling community, with relatively high numbers of births and deaths. It ended on a high note when a mother named Pico was discovered with a calf off the coast of Virginia in June. We approach the upcoming 2025 calving season, which begins in December, with both excited anticipation and anxiety. A big question is whether some of the more than 40 adult females between the ages of 10 and 20 who have delayed the birth of their first calf will enter the breeding pool,” Hamilton said.

After this week’s meeting, the consortium will produce a comprehensive annual report on the status of the species; research, management and research activities; and recommendations for action.

The report will be available in early 2025 and published on the Consortium’s website.

Founded in 1986 as a collaborative data-sharing group, the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium consists of research and conservation organizations, shipping and fishing industry members, technical experts, U.S. and Canadian government agencies, and state and provincial authorities, who are all committed to the conservation and recovery of the North Atlantic right whale.

The consortium is internationally recognized and has been identified as a model for establishing other species-related organizations.

The New England Aquarium is a nonprofit research and conservation organization that has been protecting and caring for ocean and marine wildlife for more than 50 years. It helps shape policies that create measurable change to address the threats facing the ocean.

The researcher and mirror in Nantucket is a news partner of MassLive.com. To subscribe to The researcher and mirrorclick here.