The population of the north Atlantic right whales appears to have stabilized at around 350, having fallen from a peak of 483 in just 2010. In 2022 there were 356,...
North Altantic Right Whale
Once thought to exist in numbers between 9000 and 21000, but whaling pushed them close to extinction – with estimates of just a couple of hundred. In the intervening years, since 1986, the population has reached 350 – potentially doubling the population in just 37 years. However, we need to remember that only around 70 of these are breeding age females. A healthy population can expect breeding females to produce a calf every 3 years or so. Unfortunately, given the entanglements and other things that are stressing these whales, the gap between young is currently in the range 6-10 years. This means we can expect 7-11 calves a year – which suggests that for the population to double again in 37 year – we need a survival rate of over 90%
Should the population continue to grow on at that speed, it will take around 180 years for this population to recover.
Places to try to see them include
- Jacksonville, Florida
- Hilton-head Island
Generally, anywhere along this section of the American coast they are a possibility. Directly below this is a video of this whale species, and below this is a list of any mentions that this whale has had on this website (if any). As we get links, they will appear below these two sections.
Our behaviour may be still pushing the Northern right whale to extinction – entanglements may use as much energy as rearing all young
The Northern right whale was hunted to the brink of extinction - with less than 500 left when hunting ended. To put this in perspective, only 300 Southern right whales...
