Right Whales in Trouble

The world’s most endangered whale, the Northern Right Whale, spends much of its life off the coast of the eastern seaboard. Many scientists suspect the right whales’ love of coastal waters has lead to a stagnation of its small population. Humans inhabit these coastal waters too, with their oil tankers, naval vessels and fishing boats. The human threat to right whales has become so severe that a federal judge has ordered the state of Massachusetts to prohibit certain types of fishing gear or face a total fishing ban. But, as Patrick Cox of member station WBUR in Boston reports, few people believe such a ban would actually improve the whale’s plight.