The North Atlantic Right Whale, Eubalaena glacialis, is listed as ‘Endangered’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Speciesä. Despite its bulky size, the North Atlantic Right Whale is able to perform acrobatic acts such as jumping out of the water. Unfortunately, this made them an easy target for whalers. Whilst they were once frequently seen, it is currently one of the rarest large whales in the world, having been drastically reduced to critically low numbers of less than 250 mature individuals. Historically, the North Atlantic Right Whale was common on both sides of the Atlantic. Today, this whale appears to be effectively extinct in the eastern North Atlantic.
Whilst the North Atlantic Right Whale is no longer hunted, decades of exploitation have left a tragic legacy. The main threats to the North Atlantic Right Whale are collision with ships and entanglement in commercial fishing gear. Other threats include loss of habitat due to human activity, oil spills, man-made noise (which may interfere with communication), intensive commercial fishing (which effects prey availability), and global climate change. As the North Atlantic Right Whale relies heavily on a very specific combination of water currents and temperature for feeding, changes in ocean temperatures and currents, caused by global climate change could be the ultimate threat that pushes this species over the brink into extinction.
The most immediate conservation need for the North Atlantic Right Whale is the elimination of deaths and injuries from ship collisions and entanglement in fishing gear. Both the US and Canada are doing their utmost to meet these conservation needs. Sadly, there is no indication as to whether the measures are having a sufficient impact on the populations of North Atlantic Right Whales. The extinction of this great whale in the next century is a very real possibility.
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