WHOI in the News
Fewer than 366 North Atlantic Right whales are left on earth
“North Atlantic right whales face a serious risk of extinction, but there is hope if we can work together on solutions. Trauma reduction measures and applying new tools to assess their health are critically important to enhance the welfare of individual whales. If we can reduce the number of deaths, and successfully improve their health (and increase their) reproduction, the current decline in population can be reversed,” says lead study author Michael Moore, a whale trauma specialist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
As their population plummets, right whales verge on extinction
It’s unknown how many right whales are alive today, but Michael Moore, director of the Marine Mammal Center at WHOI, said there are likely to be fewer than 366.
North Atlantic right whales ‘could be extinct within 20 years’ as krill they eat migrate away due to climate change and commercial fishing impacts their habitat
A comprehensive new study of North Atlantic right whales has found the species is significantly smaller and less healthy than southern right whales and could be wiped out in the next 20 years without intervention.
Endangered North Atlantic right whales return to Canadian waters
For North Atlantic right whales as individuals, and as a species, things are going terribly wrong,” said Michael Moore from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
In another significant ruling for right whales, a federal judge rules that Massachusetts is violating the Endangered Species Act
Michael Moore, director of the Marine Mammal Center at WHOI, lauded the ruling, saying the “judge understands the simple truth that if there is rope in the water column, and whales come and go in the region, entanglement risk is real, and significant in terms of mortality and morbidity, especially for reproductive success.”
As North Atlantic right whales slide toward extinction, a desperate search for hope
For the species to survive, they need to be producing closer to 29 calves a year, said Michael Moore, director of the Marine Mammal Center at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Scientists meeting in Portland say right whales on the way to extinction
The future continues to grow ever darker for the highly endangered right whale, a species that has been in decline every year since 2010 and is at the heart of regulatory protection efforts threatening to upend Maine’s valuable lobster fishery.
Lobstermen seek help in protecting right whales
Michael Moore, a scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, raised the concern that the “torturous” process the fisheries service was undertaking to write and enact the new regulations would “still come up short.”
IFAW issues dire warning on North Atlantic right whales
High-tech fishing gear could help save right whales
High-tech fishing gear could help save critically endangered right whales
New regulations are a matter of life and extinction for right whales
With right whales at risk of extinction, regulators consider drastic action that could affect lobstermen
Quotes Michael Moore
Tech to the rescue: The race to save the right whales
quotes Mark Baumgartner
Special Report: North Atlantic right whales in crisis
quotes Mark Baumgartner and Michael Moore
After year of record deaths, right whales produce no new calves, which could be catastrophic
quotes Michael Moore
Fishing Gear Deaths, Low Birth Rate Tell Grave Tale for Right Whales Sara Brown
quotes Mark Baumgartner
Right Whales Take Center Stage at Tuesdays in the Newsroom Talk
Mark Baumgartner will speak on the Vineyard
Here’s why 12 right whales died in Canadian waters and why more will die if nothing is done
quotes Mark Baumgartner (written by a 2017 WHOI Ocean Science Journalism Fellow)
Gone in 20 years? Scientists raise alarm over northern Right whales
quotes Mark Baumgartner and mentions WHOI
Right whales could be 20 years away from certain extinction, scientists say
quotes Mark Baumgartner
Endangered right whales are dying in record numbers off Canada, raising alarm
quotes Mark Baumgartner
Right Whales are dying
features Mark Baumgartner
Deaths Heighten Alarm About Future of North Atlantic Right Whales
interview with Mark Baumgartner