Hope for Right Whales

“Hope is a survival trait, and without it, we perish.”

Jane Goodall describes hope as creating a plan and setting a course to move forward despite knowing there will be obstacles to overcome. She continued. “Hope does not deny all the difficulty and all the danger that exists, but it is not stopped by them. There is a lot of darkness, but our actions create light.”

Researchers have identified four components of hope. The first is setting realistic goals and identifying realistic pathways to achieve them. Mental fortitude in the face of daunting circumstances is needed to achieve goals. The fourth is support from others, fellowship, and teamwork to overcome adversities met along the way. Hope is cyclical. The more of each component we have, the more we encourage each other to act against the wind for the greater good.

I attended the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium Annual Meeting, preceded by two days of the Ropeless Consortium Annual Meeting in Providence, RI. The good news is that the right whale population for 2023 rose to 372. In 2022, there were 367 right whales, an increase of 1.9%. The 2023 increase in population included 12 whale calves.

Unfortunately, in 2024, three right whales were killed by ship strikes, one by entanglement and one by unknown cause. Alarming was the death of four females with calves. Researchers presume the four calves are dead. At least 12 right whales have suffered injuries in 2024.

The Consortium is working in overdrive with the government to reduce ship strikes by mandating vessel travel not exceed ten knots in the presence of whales. The situation is more complex than one would think because right whales do not migrate, except for females with calves from warm natal waters to Cape Cod and the Islands. It is tough to spot right whales because they swim lower in the water than other whales and raise their tails less frequently. And we don’t know where many whales will be.

More than half of the right whale population are not seen annually between June and September. This year, numerous right whales were observed on the Continental Shelf between Hudson Canyon and Block Canyon for the first time. Fifteen flights conducted over 11 days in late May and July identified 143 unique right whales!

Using lineless lobster trap lines is proving even more difficult. Reliable gear has been developed where a signal from the arriving lobster boat causes the buoy to surface. A benefit is that it takes less time to haul the shorter line and gear onboard. Lobstermen are not thrilled by a system that recovers their pots when the computer must be rebooted six times. They are very concerned about how the information will be managed. Who can access what information? There are concerns that the government will mandate all New England’s lobster fleets pay for Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet constellation to access and retrieve their traps.

The whales seem to be developing a springtime nursery habitat as the proportion of mother right whales bringing calves to Cape Cod Bay has increased since 2016. From 1998 to 2015, the first cow-calf sitings in the bay occurred on April 7th. Since 2016, the first cow-calf sitings have been on March 27th. Mother-calf pairs have also spent more time in the bay. Before 2016, the mean was 12.2 days; after 2016, they linger 17.4 days. From 2016-2024, 43 mother right whales brought calves to Cape Cod Bay. Eight were first-time mothers; 16 had previously brought at least one calf, and 19 had never brought calves.

This shift in whale behavior may indicate a degradation of adjacent whale habitats. Phytoplankton, tiny plants at the base of the Gulf of Maine’s food pyramid, is 65% less productive than 25 years ago. The right whale’s primary food is copepods. Today, copepods have less fat, and caloric values are declining, requiring whales to eat more for the same nutritious meal.

In 1996, Monsanto developed seeds resistant to glyphosate, the herbicide in Roundup, and its use increased tenfold. The decline in food for the right whale is likely more related to increased herbicide use and water runoff than to increased nutrient pollution and rising ocean temperatures.

In 2021, summer daytime temperatures rose nearly four degrees above average (73.7 degrees F), but sea surface water temperatures did not rise above average. Paradoxically, in 2023, the Gulf of Maine experienced the hottest sea surface temperatures ever recorded despite the average summer air temperatures being only 70 degrees.

The ocean was warmed in 2023 because more than 20 inches of rain fell, the most precipitation since 1955. We have lost much vegetation and soil in recent decades, replaced with impervious surfaces, highways, cement, and urbanization. Less water infiltrates the ground to recharge aquifers and be there during dry periods—instead, water puddles on the impervious surfaces of heat islands. Stormwater is warmed and then flushed. The fresh, warm water is lighter than salt water. It spreads across the sea’s face, covering cooler water. The Continental Shelf water stays at a constant 54 degrees, warming our winters and cooling our summers.

The hope for increasing the right whale population rests on the government and our actions within our neighborhoods. The government is working out the details to regulate boat speeds and implement lineless lobster pots. Clear-eyed with the knowledge of how we have disrupted the water cycle, we need to take responsibility for retaining stormwater on the land by planting more vegetation and soil and installing more permeable pavers, cisterns, rain barrels, and rain gardens. Even potted plants help.

Water in the ground enables plants to keep photosynthesizing, drawing down carbon dioxide when it is dry. This lessens the washing of harmful pollutants into the whale’s nursery while cooling the waters with a decrease in hot water.

We need more people to succeed in our hopeful actions for right whales. Let’s come together and call for the proposed Right Whale National Marine Sanctuary, a swoosh of sandy shoaling ocean sweeping from Duxbury Beach around Cape Cod and the Islands to Point Judith and Rhode Island’s south coast, connecting Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary with Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge.

The Right Whale NMS would bring all stakeholders and ocean users together and give everyone a voice via their representatives serving on the Advisory Council. While the government regulates boat speeds and fishing, the Right Whale NMS develops best practices for how we operate and treat the land and the sea, beginning with our properties and neighborhoods.

Here is hope for more right whales frequenting our shores to brighten our lives with wonder.