Ocean Regime Shift is Driving Collapse of the North Atlantic Right Whale Population

A recent study published the journal Oceanography lays out how climate-driven ocean change in the northwestern Atlantic is complicating efforts to protect the North Atlantic right whale from fishing gear entanglements and ship strikes.

The Gulf of Maine and western Scotian Shelf began warming at an alarming rate in 2010. This had profound impacts on the food web, including a decline in the main food source for right whales, a small copepod species known as Calanus finmarchicus. As a result, whales began searching for food further north in the Gulf of St. Lawrence where, at the time, they lacked protection from gear entanglements and ship strikes.

Findings from this study have important implications for right whale management. Namely that going forward it is vital for managers, scientists, and stakeholders in the U.S. and Canada to work together to more nimbly implement strong measures that keep pace with the rate of ecosystem change.

Read the full paper.

Reference

Meyer-Gutbrod, E.L., C.H. Greene, K.T.A. Davies, and D.G. Johns. 2021. Ocean regime shift is driving collapse of the North Atlantic right whale population. Oceanography 34(3). https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2021.308