January 10, 2013
Three Things That Are Driving North Atlantic Right Whales Toward Extinction
And how we're fighting to save these massive mammals
Fewer than 400 North Atlantic right whales remain out of a population that once numbered in the tens of thousands in the Atlantic Ocean. Once hunted to near extinction, they are slowly recovering, but collisions with fast-moving ships, entanglement in fishing gear, and climate change threaten their survival.
1. Collisions with ships killing right whales and their young
Being struck by large ships is the leading cause of death for right whales. They tend to live close to the Atlantic coast, feeding during the spring and summer off New England and Canada. During late fall and winter, as pregnant females migrate to their only known calving grounds off the coast of Georgia and Florida, they must cross the mouths of busy ports such as New York and the Chesapeake Bay. Females and their newborn young are killed in greater numbers than adult males along this dangerous route.
Working to prevent ship strikes
Litigation by The HSUS resulted in the federal government requiring mandatory speed limits for ships in certain high use areas to reduce the risk to right whales from collisions; however, protective speed limits will expire in December 2013 unless the government acts to extend them. The HSUS and other groups have filed a legal petition to extend speed limits beyond their expiration date.
2. Deadly entanglement in fishing lines
Right whales share their habitat with some of the busiest fishing areas in the U.S., and fatal entanglement in commercial fishing gear is the second major cause of death in right whales. Right whales may become entangled in nets, in the lines between underwater nets, or in buoy lines that go from the ocean floor to the surface to mark the location of nets or lobster and crab traps. Once entangled, right whales may drown if they are unable to reach the surface to breathe. Others may be able to swim off, entangled in the lines, only to die a slow death from infection or starvation. Chronic entanglement can also impair movement, making the whale more vulnerable to ship collisions.
Fishing gear along our coast is so dense in places that some whales become entangled multiple times. One right whale was entangled in commercial fishing gear once in late 1997, and then two more times in 1998, before being freed of most of the gear. However, some of the fishing gear remained deep in the whale's mouth. This whale was considered seriously injured by this last entanglement and indeed was never again seen alive. In 2001, the nation watched the tragic story of Churchill, a right whale who died slowly of infection despite several well-publicized attempts to disentangle him from the fishing line cutting into him. At the close of 2012, at least a dozen right whales have been seen still entangled in fishing gear. These sorts of sad stories play out year after year.
The HSUS fighting for fishing industry regulations
Both the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and the Endangered Species Act require the government to address the issue of entanglement in fishing gear. On several occasions over the past decade, the HSUS has sued the government to force progress. Most recently, in 2010, our litigation resulted in a regulation requiring that the lines used to connect lobster pots sink to the ocean floor, as a way of reducing the chance of whales encountering the lines.
We are still pushing to have the federal government address the risk to whales from the heavy lines that go from fishing lines on the bottom to marker buoys on the surface. These lines, called vertical lines, are responsible for at least half of the risk to whales. The HSUS is also appointed to a federal task force currently seeking solutions.
3. Climate changes and habitat depletion
Right whales reproduce very slowly, often not giving birth until their teens and having a single calf only every three to five years. In some years only one calf has been born to the entire population. Warming climates and changes in ocean currents mean there are years when food is harder to find, and the thinner females cannot sustain a pregnancy.
What The HSUS is doing to protect right whale habitat
The HSUS filed a legal petition to expand the boundaries of the designated critical habitat for right whales. Critical habitat defines areas most important to a species’ survival. Once designated, regulations can help reduce pollution in critical habitat and reduce other human impacts. In 2010, the federal government promised to propose changes to the boundaries by the end of 2011. As of the end of 2012, nothing has changed.
Time is running out for right whales
Again and again, The HSUS has been forced to file suit to win overdue protection for North Atlantic right whales. While the National Marine Fisheries Service continues to take its time protecting this critically endangered population, time may be running out to save right whales from extinction.