At least 11 right whales were born this calving season, the New England Aquarium reported this week.
The number is lower than what scientists hoped, as the critically endangered species faces threats from human-caused activities. Entanglements in fishing gear and boat strikes are the leading causes of death and injury to the population.
Scientists say those injuries make it more difficult for right whales to reproduce and survive.
The 2024 calving season was more encouraging because roughly 20 individuals were born. However, the New England Aquarium noted that by last fall, a handful of newly born right whales had already disappeared.
Four females gave birth for the first time this season, marking a small increase in the population’s reproductive pool. And the New England Aquarium notes that one right whale, a 44-year-old named Grand Teton, gave birth this year to at least her ninth calf.
“Whales like Grand Teton give me hope for the species,” Philip Hamilton, a senior scientist at the aquarium, said in a statement. “She has been calving for over four decades, and unlike the majority of the population, remains relatively free of scars from past entanglements. The future of the species hangs on females like her.”
So far this year, right whales have been spotted in a few unexpected places. Two right whale mom and calf pairs were seen outside traditional calving grounds in New Jersey and Virginia.
And for the first time ever, researchers spotted two adult right whales in the Bahamas. Roughly half of the right whale population is currently feeding in waters off Massachusetts, before heading north for the summer.
The population hovers around 370 individuals.
This story was originally published by Maine Public. It was shared as part of the New England News Collaborative.
