The situation of the North Atlantic right whale is worrying to say the least. Their breeding season is almost at an end and there have not been any new births, no new mother-calf pairs.
Right whale’s rapidly declining fertility rate and the growing mortality rate could mean that they could become functionally extinct by 2040, meaning that by that date there will no longer be any potential right whale mothers.
The main threats that the right whale population are facing are the growing fishing activity and the difficulty of finding food. Whales are constantly getting trapped in lobster fishing nets and the increasing temperatures of the waters they hunt in, a result of climate change, are causing them many problems when it comes to looking for food.
It is estimated that the current population numbers for North Atlantic right whales stand at 430 worldwide. Only 100 of these are potential mothers which increases the danger of them becoming extinct.
Mark Baumgartner, one of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute’s marine ecologists in Massachusetts, said: “At the rate we are killing them off, this 100 females will be gone in 20 years.”
> Naomi Round
North Atlantic Right Whales Could Become Extinct by 2040
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