Recent Scientific Publications Cast Doubt on North Atlantic Right Whale Future

摘要

The North Atlantic right whale, Eubalaena glacialis, was near extinction by 1935, when whaling for this species became illegal.In 1992, 295 right whales were estimated alive (Knowlton et al., 1994), andgrowthfrom1990to2010averaged2.8%peryear(Waringetal.,2016),bringingthepopulation to about 500 individuals in 2015 (Pettis and Hamilton, 2015).However, since 2010, calving rates havedroppedbynearly40%,andthelastfourdecadeshaveseenincreasingnumbersofrightwhales killed by entanglements in ?shing gear and collisions with ships combined (Knowlton et al., 2012; Van der Hoop et al., 2013; Pace et al., 2014).Recent U.S.and Canadian regulatory actions (slowing ships and moving shipping lanes) appear to have been successful at reducing ship kills (Laist et al., 2014; Van der Hoop et al., 2015).