North Atlantic right whales could be extinct by 2040, scientists warn. This year no calves were born in the whales鈥� usual breeding season from November to February.
North Atlantic right whales () are an species. There are only an estimated 430 left, of which 100 are females.
The absence of new calves has been compounded by a record premature death toll of 18 in 2017. Most died after becoming entangled in fishing gear, especially ropes connecting surface buoys to lobster pots.
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鈥淎t the rate we鈥檙e killing them off, these 100 females will be gone in 20 years,鈥� of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts . The species could be 鈥渇unctionally extinct鈥� by 2040, he said.
Whale-friendly fishing
One hope is that lobster fisheries will adopt new, ropeless technologies for catching lobsters. A US federal survey between 2010 and 2014 estimated that 82 per cent of right whale deaths were from entanglement in fishing gear.
The is being developed at Woods Hole. It relies on devices on the seabed, linked to lobster traps. To recover a trap, a fishing crew sends an acoustic signal from the surface, causing the device to rise to the surface 鈥� for instance, by inflating a bag to provide buoyancy.
However, lobster catchers in New England recently viewed the technology at a meeting at Woods Hole, and many were unimpressed, .
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