HALIFAX - Scientists are reporting a troubling reduction in the length of North Atlantic right whales, suggesting a key factor in their stunted growth may be the fishing gear many haul around after becoming entangled.
Scientists are reporting a troubling reduction in the length of North Atlantic right whales, suggesting a key factor in their stunted growth may be the fishing gear many haul around after becoming entangled.
In this March 28, 2018 file photo, a North Atlantic right whale feeds on the surface of Cape Cod bay off the coast of Plymouth, Mass. Photo by: The Canadian Press/Michael Dwyer
HALIFAX Scientists are reporting a troubling reduction in the length of North Atlantic right whales, suggesting a key factor in their stunted growth may be the fishing gear many haul around after becoming entangled. It s just the sheer energy loss from dragging around the extra gear, especially if (the entanglement) happened earlier in the whale s life, said Joshua Stewart, lead author of the study published Thursday in the journal Current Biology.
Oceana, an independent advocacy group, says that for the second year in a row, it found that a majority of vessels sailing through the Gulf of St. Lawrence exceeded the 10-knot voluntary speed limit during the first week it was in effect.
Protecting the North Atlantic right whale population requires a mandatory slowdown for vessels in the Cabot Strait, says Oceana Canada.
In early 2020, Transport Canada introduced a voluntary slowdown to protect the critically endangered species, but the majority of vessels are not complying, Oceana Canada found.
There are now fewer than 366 right whales left in the world, according to researchers, and there have been 21 known right whale deaths in Canadian waters between 2017 and 2020.
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“It is the collisions with these vessels that are killing these whales,” said Sean Brillant, senior conservation biologist at the Canadian Wildlife Federation. “We need to be a bit more aggressive in a situation like this with a species that is so close to extinction and that is so clearly shown to be affected by vessels and vessel traffic.”