Endangered whale population sinks close to 20-year low
ABC News
A group of scientists and ocean life advocates says a type of whale that is one of the rarest marine mammals in the world lost nearly 10% of its population last year
PORTLAND, Maine -- A type of whale that is one of the rarest marine mammals in the world lost nearly 10% of its population last year, a group of scientists and ocean life advocates said on Monday.
The North Atlantic right whale numbered only 366 in 2019, and its population fell to 336 in 2020, the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium said. The estimate is the lowest number in nearly two decades.
Right whales were once abundant in the waters off New England, but were decimated during the commercial whaling era due to their high concentrations of oil. They have been listed as endangered by the U.S. government for more than half a century.
The whales have suffered high mortality and poor reproduction in some recent years. There were more than 480 of the animals as recently as 2011. They're vulnerable to fatal entanglement in fishing gear and collisions with large ships, and even when they survive, they often emerge less fit and less able to feed and mate, said Scott Kraus, chair of the consortium.
