Scarborough, Maine – A disappearance species of whale He gave birth to few babies this childbirth season, increasing alarms between scientists and conservationists who fear that the animal can spread.
The whale is the right whale of the North Atlantic, which counts only around 370 and has decreased in the population in recent years. The whales give birth to the calves of the southeast of the United States from mid -November to mid -April, and federal authorities have said they need to have at least 50 calves per season to start recovering.
The whales did not approach that number this year. The childbirth season produced only 11 maternal couples, they said scientists from the New England Aquarium in Boston.
The lack of baby whales underlines the need for whale protection, conservationists said Monday. Whales are vulnerable to tangle in sea fishing equipment and collisions with large ships.
“They are also reproducing more slowly than they used to,” said the International Fund for Animal Welfare in its qualification card of the birth season. “This is probably due to the stress of tangles, navigation between occupied maritime traffic, the increase in oceanic noise and the changing distribution of its food sources.”
The delivery season had some bright points. Several women gave birth for the first time, and that gives hope for the future, said the aquarium in a statement. The whale population only has about 70 reproductive females.
“With past calves counts ranging from 39 to zero, we never know how any delivery season will take place. While the calves count is relatively under this year, it encourages me that four new mothers are added to the reproductive group,” said Philip Hamilton, a senior scientist of the Aquarium’s Cabot Center for Ocean Life.
Whales can weigh up to 150,000 pounds (45,360 kilograms) and were very exploited during the era of commercial whales hunting. They have been protected for decades, but they have taken to recover.
In recent years, scientists have said that whales have diverted from the protected areas established in search of food, and that has put them at high risk of tangles and collisions. The whales migrate from southern migration to New England and Canada to feed on small oceanic organisms.
