- North Atlantic right whales face a serious threat from entanglement in fishing gear, adding to their critically endangered state.
- Entanglement causes not only physical suffering, but also reduces reproductive success, accelerating the species’ decline.
The Impact of Entanglement
- Entanglement in fishing gear causes energy consumption, decreased feeding efficiency, and physical injury, compromising whales’ capacity to reproduce and survive. Even slight entanglements have severe effects on female right whales.
- Reproductive Implications: Females who experience entanglement episodes, even those categorised as “minor,” have lower breeding rates, which may have long-term implications for population recovery. Poor health and physical fitness also hamper breeding success.
About Right Whales
- The Balaenidae family includes right whales, which are enormous baleen whales.
- Right whales are classified into three species: the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis), North Pacific right whale (Eubalaena japonica), and Southern right whale (Eubalaena australis).
- They are distinguished by their geographic distribution and minor variances in physical traits.
- Right whales live in temperate and subpolar waters throughout the North Atlantic, North Pacific, and Southern Hemisphere.
- They are frequently seen in coastal locations during their feeding and breeding seasons, but they can traverse considerable distances.
- The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists all three right whale species as endangered or severely endangered.
Source: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/north-atlantic-right-whale#:~:text=North%20Atlantic%20right%20whales%20face,%2C%20find%20food%2C%20and%20navigate.