Guest Lecture: North Atlantic Right Whale

What do they eat?

Mainly Calanus finmarchicus, very nutritious, tied to NARW distribution.

Number of individuals left

380 (~70 females)

Why are there so little left?

Because they were decimated by hunting

What are the Primary human threats?

Entanglement from fishing gear and vessel strikes (Blunt and Acute)

How many right whales were there in the 16th century?

12,000 to 20,000

How many whales were hunted per year from 1530 - 1610?

300-500

How many individuals were there in 1935 when whaling was outlawed?

100

What is a UME and how many individuals were affected from 2017-2026?

A UME is an unusual mortality event, in the 2017-2026 UME, 43 individuals died, 176 whales were affected.

What are the 2 Right whale management measures?

• Entanglements

  • Fishery Regulations

• Vessel strikes

  • Shipping regulations

How can Fisheries adapt to fishing regulations?

• Pop-up buoys

• inflatable life bags

• buoyant spools

What are some ways DFO has helped implement on demand fishing gear?

They provide on demand gear at no cost to fish in closures, only requesting the return of the gear at the end of the season.

How many pounds of snow crab are caught with on demand gear?

1 million

What are some challenges to on demand fishing gear?

• cost and affordability

• reliability

• monitoring and enforcement

• testing in different environments conditions

Biological challenges to saving the Right whale

• slow to reproduce

• little vocalizations

• slow moving and hard to spot (no dorsal fin)

• specialized diet

  • which climate change is moving

• complications to tagging

• cryptic mortality

Political challenges to saving the right whale

It is managed by 2 countries with different legal structures and laws, they are led by 2 different parties and there is tension between the countries.

Geographical challenges to saving the right whale

• large habitat range

  • Calving Grounds in florida

  • feeding grounds up to the gulf of st. Lawrence

• ~2000km

What are the consequences of inaction?

• Reduced life expectancy

  • 22 yrs

• longer intervals between births

  • calving every 6-10 years instead of 3