North Atlantic right whale
North Atlantic right whales are shrinking in size as they struggle to survive environmental havoc
North Atlantic right whales face a number of threats from climate change, vessel strikes, and entanglements in fishing gear, and scientists estimate that fewer than 400 remain. Now researchers have discovered that because of these stresses, the whales are smaller than they should be, which could be leading to fewer successful births.
Right whale born in cold North Atlantic waters beats odds, survives winter
Right whales typically give birth in warm waters off the coasts of Florida and Georgia, but this past year, one whale mother didn’t make the migration, and gave birth off Massachusetts. Scientists worried the calf would die but, against the odds, it survived and the pair met back up with its pod this spring.
