October 26, 2021 — A new estimate of the number of endangered North Atlantic right whales left on the planet puts the population at 336, the lowest in nearly 20 years.
The figure, which represents the 2020 population, is down eight per cent from the previous estimate of 366 in 2019, and is far below the peak of 481 in 2011.
The North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium, a partnership of nearly 40 organizations with an interest in protecting the species, said the cause of the decline is clear.
“There is no question that human activities are driving this species toward extinction,” Scott Kraus, the chair of the consortium, said in a news release Monday morning.
Entanglements in fishing gear and vessel strikes are among the biggest threats to the survival of the North Atlantic right whale.