Monterey Bay. Humpback. 10/22/24

* There are only 370 North Atlantic right whales left, and only 70 of them are female.

* One of them, named Squilla, gave birth to a female calf named 5120, some time in early 2021

* Due to climate change, Squilla and 5120 travelled north to the Gulf of St. Lawrence in search of food. The Gulf of St. Lawrence is infamous for deadly vessel strikes on whales of all sorts.

* With some luck, the mother and calf managed to evade being struck by a ship. Unfortunately, during the spring or summer of 2022, 5120's tail became entangled in lobster fishing gear rope.

* The Center for Coastal Studies spotted 5120 from a plane in Cape Cod Bay in January 2023, and dispatched a team that spent 2 days trying to disentangle 5120, but did not succeed.

* Lobstermen in Maine were fighting against more regulations of their fishing gear. Even Maine Gov. Janet Mills claimed that “The fact is, there has never been a right whale death attributed to Maine lobster gear.”

* 5120's dead body washed up in the surf on Martha’s Vineyard, MA early this year (2024). Cause of death was infection from wounds from lobster gear rope entanglement that did not heal partly because the drag from the lines kept it open and bleeding

* Even entanglements that don’t kill right whales can contribute to killing off the species. The lines create drag in the water, making it harder for whales to swim and driving up the number of calories they need to survive, researchers say. “On average, an entanglement energy cost is the equivalent cost of producing a calf,” said Michael Moore

Source:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/10/26/climate/north-atlantic-right-whale-population.html

https://reddit.com/link/1gg7k0g/video/l6n8zx2c51yd1/player

Gojira (Godzilla) is a combination of gorila (gorilla) and kujira (whale). This humpback reminded me of that.

You can see why they call this humpback “The Batman.”

BREAKING: The North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium (NARWC) announced a population estimate of 372 North Atlantic right #whales, including 12 calves from 2023. As the population remains critically low, serious collaboration between industry, government, & stakeholders is urged. Learn more at our blog.