A Whale at the Edge of Extinction
Why the northern right whale (Georgia's state marine mammal) may be the first great whale we lose.
“For centuries, we humans hunted and killed whales as if their numbers were infinite. And over time, we got better and better at it, more efficient, more ruthless, extracting more value from each kill. We harvested their blubber, their organs, their baleen, their meat, and it was all transformed into everyday commercial products, from makeup to heating oil. More than 700,000 whales were killed in the 1960s. Whaling was a huge global industry, with profits to match.” - Daniel Alarcon, writer for Serial podcast.
I live in Georgia, and my state has a whale.
Kinda-sorta.
In 1985, Georgia named the critically endangered northern right whale as our official state marine mammal. It was cool when it happened. Looking back at the news articles, it seems that our elected officials were mostly all rah-rah, so kudos and all that. However, the news isn’t that great, actually. The whale’s numbers have continued to decline.
There are probably 300 or fewer of these particular whales left. Oceana, a conservation nonprofit, wrote in October 2023 that the mammals are “…are swimming along the cliff of extinction.”
Experts warn that with current population trends, the northern right whale as a species could disappear within the next 20 years, potentially becoming the first great whale to go extinct in modern history.
The northern right whale, often called the North Atlantic Right Whale, has been on my mind since this summer when I took a biking trip in Nova Scotia. One of our guides, an environmental biologist, after learning I was from Georgia and a community scientist, told me I should go down to the Georgia coast this winter to try to see one.
“They may not be around much longer,” she warned.
I looked at her and had a thought that I’ve had too many times since I’ve been on my two-year journey as a dedicated community scientist. That thought?
I didn’t know. I should have known.
Lindsey, a Nova Scotia native, went on with my education that day as we rested on a bench, sweaty and satisfied, after a long ride.
“The right whale got its name from the fact that they were the right whale to hunt. I did a big project on them at university,” she added, then went on to explain how the whales swim slowly near the surface and close to shore.
“Makes ‘em an easy target. Plus they’ve got a lot of blubber and their bodies float after being killed. That’s another way they’re easy pickings. They have lots of baleen which is strong keratin stuff, like our fingernails. The baleen was made into things like buggys whips. And corset stays, if you can believe,” she laughed slapping one hand against her stomach when she said the word “corset.’
“A single whale’s baleen—the baleen alone!— was often valuable enough to make an entire hunting trip profitable.”
In the months after that conversation, I thought about the right whale quite a lot and did my research starting with the short video (below) from Georgia’s DNR. Also, to get an idea of scale, Fred and I took a trip to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in November to see a replica of the whale hanging from the ceiling. 1
The areas off Georgia's coast serve as a vital calving area for this species, the only great whale native to our state’s waters.
Right whales migrate seasonally. In the spring, summer, and into fall, many of these whales can be found in waters off New England and further north into Canadian waters where they feed and mate. They begin to head south in the fall and have been spotted off Georgia’s coastlines from November to April.
I’d love to see one.
I’m considering a trip down to St. Simons to see if I could spot one, but I’ve been told chances are slim. Readers, do you have different intel? Email me at pzendt at gmail.com.
Whales are hard to see anytime, and it’s against the law for boats to get closer than 500 feet to them. A feature story compiled this year on a northern right whale named “Squilla” was educational, and I especially noted that all images seemed to have been taken from overhead. Footnotes with the article said imagery was obtained after getting a special research permit. The pictures, however, were exceptional, and the story begins like this:
“Squilla took to motherhood. When she was first spotted with her new calf in January 2021 off the Georgia coast, mother and daughter stayed so close as they swam that they were touching. The baby rolled around in the water, as calves often do, and Squilla joined in, turning her belly to the sky.” New York Times feature, “Can 70 Moms Save a Species?”
Some History and Stats
By the late 1800s, right whales had become so scarce that hunting them was no longer profitable. Today, the species is critically endangered, with only about 300 individuals remaining. Although hunting northern right whales has been banned for nearly a century, their population is not recovering. Due to their habit of swimming and resting near the surface, many are fatally struck by ships, and fishing nets pose another significant threat. Additionally, some scientists believe ocean pollution is reducing the krill and plankton they depend on for food. To make matters worse, female right whales only give birth to a single calf every three to five years.
There is much to wonder about in our world and always more to learn. I’d like to think that I didn’t travel 1,000 miles to another country to learn about a species here in my wintertime backyard. But it seems I did.
Still, I’m glad I learned about the right whale and to share this information. Protecting these whales primarily involves following boating guidelines. You can download the flyer for recommendations for recreational boaters.
While I always embrace the hands-on part of community science, there’s no action item for me in this area, but at least I can share the message. Two items for the community are:
There is the one general-use app for boaters, Whale Alert.
iNaturalist is always there for us all. I checked iNaturalist today, searching for northern right whales and found a handful of good research grade entries from just this year. Most of the images are close ups, I suppose taken from a boat, and the locations I’m seeing at this point are up off the coast of New England.
Are you weeping for the whales yet?
It’s sad to think “our” northern right whale may be the first to go extinct. I really don’t know how to end on a happy note here. I will share a few lines of poetry which are always good for when you are “uncertain” about what to say. 2
Whales Weep Not! D. H. Lawrence, 1985-1930.
They say the sea is cold, but the sea contains
the hottest blood of all, and the wildest, the most urgent.
All the whales in the wider deeps, hot are they, as they urge
on and on, and dive beneath the icebergs.
The right whales, the sperm-whales, the hammer-heads, the killers
there they blow, there they blow, hot wild white breath out of
the sea!
This month, I’m reading Independent People by Icelandic author Halldor Laxness. The book is fantastic and even epic. Great cold-weather reading. It won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1955, so yes you should be able to get it free at the library. One moment that made me smile (and think) was when the protagonist, Bjartur, had a fight with his wife and left the house in an “uncertain” mood. I’ve been pondering what exactly an uncertain mood is. Is it stomping out the door but not sure where you’re going? Or muttering to yourself about the fight but still grabbing a snack on the way out? Either way, I’m pretty sure I’ve been there too.
This is great information -- thanks, Pam! I hope we can do our part to make sure right whales are around for many more centuries.
Love this post, Pam. We have a gorgeous print of the Right Whale in our dining room after our son was obsessed with whales for a time. Connecticut’s state animal is the sperm whale, btw. It was the official mascot of my son’s elementary school, so we adopted a whale named George Washington from Allied Whale (a non-profit research group attached to the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, ME, where our other son ended up going to college, coincidentally): https://www.coa.edu/allied-whale/ — it’s a great org if folks are interested!