North Atlantic Right Whales Record 23 New Calves in Recent Season, Highest Since 2009

Twenty-three new calves were born to North Atlantic right whales during the calving season that ran from mid-November to mid-April, Cbc reported. This figure represents the fourth highest number of new calves on record and the highest since 2009. Amy Warren, scientific program officer with the New England Aquarium's Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life, said her colleagues were surprised by the number of births.

“The season actually started up pretty quickly ... every single survey that was happening in the calving grounds had one, two, three new calves each day,” Warren said. “We all kind of wondered like, ‘Oh my gosh, like, it's still going.

’” Three of the cows that gave birth are first-time mothers, and two of them are 10 years old, the earliest age at which North Atlantic right whale cows are expected to give birth. The whales give birth off the coast of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas before moving north. Eighteen of the 23 new calves have been re-spotted off the coast of Massachusetts.

An unusual mortality event for North Atlantic right whales has been ongoing since 2017. The estimated population of the species is 380, up from 359 in 2020 but below the high of 483 in 2011 over the past 25-plus years. Warren said an increase in protected areas and closing off some areas to shipping have helped the whales.

“I think it's easy for some to say, ‘Oh, look, we're good, we can scale back. But that's the exact opposite to me,’” Warren said.