A Bit of Good News for Right Whales
Key takeaways
- North Atlantic right whales were once so thoroughly hunted they nearly went extinct.
- When hunting these mammals was outlawed, they slowly started to bounce back, but today, right whales are dealing with new deadly threats from humans.
- Amy Warren is the scientific program officer at the New England Aquarium.
Why this matters: environmental and climate reporting with long-term consequences.
Republish A North Atlantic right whale is seen in the waters of Cape Cod Bay, Mass. Credit: Stan Grossfeld/The Boston Globe via Getty Images Related Prescribed Burns and Forest Thinning Averted Millions of Tons of Emissions and Billions in Damages Latin America Faces ‘Hydrological Whiplash’ as Climate Risks Mount Sea Level Rise and Sunny-Day Flooding Can’t Stop a Building Boom on the Jersey Shore Share This Article Republish Most Popular Wildfire Crews Race to Keep Fierce California Blaze From Former Nuclear Reactor Site EPA Claims ‘Overwhelming Rejection’ of EVs as It Moves to Loosen Air Pollution Rules Top Climate Scientists Accuse the Livestock Industry of Pushing Fuzzy Math to Downplay Its Climate Warming Emissions From our collaborating partner Living on Earth, public radio’s environmental news magazine, an interview by producer Aynsley O’Neill with Amy Warren, the scientific program officer at the New England Aquarium.
North Atlantic right whales were once so thoroughly hunted they nearly went extinct. In fact, they were called right whales because they were considered the “right” ones to hunt, as they lived close to shore and floated on the surface once killed.
When hunting these mammals was outlawed, they slowly started to bounce back, but today, right whales are dealing with new deadly threats from humans. So it’s a relief to have a successful calving season like this year, with 23 new calves, the most since 2009.