by Valerie Wong (’24) | March 22, 2024
A series of endangered right whale deaths this year has renewed calls for increased shipping lane regulation in regions that these right whales frequent. Since January, this unusually high mortality rate has raised concerns about the impact of humans on the North Atlantic right whale.
North Atlantic right whales are one of the world’s most critically endangered large right whale species. Once a common whaling target, the right whales are now largely threatened by other human impacts, including fishing gear entanglements and vessel strikes. Only 360 right whales remain, and of those, there are less than seventy reproductively active females. Right whales are at a high risk for vessel strikes because they spend much of their time within close proximity to active ports off the East Coast. Mother-calf pairs are at especially high risk because of the time they spend close to the surface. Additionally, 85% of right whales have been entangled in fishing gear at least once, a phenomenon that could lead to injury, starvation, drowning, and lower reproduction.
In January, a juvenile female was found dead, washed ashore near Joseph Sylvia State Beach in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. The whale was identified as one that had been dragging heavy fishing gear as late as June of 2023. When found this year, the whale had rope embedded in its tail, likely causing the animal excruciating pain as it approached its death. Ropes can make it difficult for the right whales to swim, feed, and reproduce.
On February 13, another female calf was found dead as a result of a vessel strike off the Georgia coast. Only a few days later, yet another juvenile female was found dead off of Tybee Island, Georgia. The whale was last spotted with head, mouth, and lip injuries due to a vessel strike in January. This whale was the first calf of the season, creating a grim outlook on the future of the species.
These deaths only highlight a larger trend of issues. Since 2017, 20% of the right whale population has been impacted by an unusual mortality event. 138 right whales have been documented as dead or severely compromised in that period, a staggering number considering the species’ already dwindling population. This is largely because legislation to protect the endangered species has been stalled for years—as of now, the only regulation on shipping vehicles is a rule from 2008 stating that vehicles over 65 feet in length cannot exceed ten nautical miles per hour in certain locations in certain seasons.
Conservationists say that these meager efforts are simply not enough to support right whales’ wellbeing, citing the Biden administration’s inaction over this urgent issue. A proposed bill to update regulations on shipping vehicles has stayed in place since 2022. This month, conservation groups including the Defenders of Wildlife are going to federal district court to obtain a deadline for the proposed bill. These groups intend to update the rule to apply to vessels over 35 feet long. Furthermore, they want to encourage fishermen to use on-demand or ropeless systems to protect the right whales from entanglement.
On March 4, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries announced a $500,000 agreement with NASA to advance the development of technologies to support the endangered right whale. This investment is part of Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, an expansive piece of legislation that aims to combat the wide-spreading impacts of climate change.
The right whale population is on the brink of extinction due to human activity. While efforts are in place to protect the species, new legislation must be put into action to protect populations. The alarming deaths of North Atlantic right whales in 2024 only serves as a warning of what may come in the future if the species does not receive the support it needs to survive.
