On January 15, 2025, in a Facebook post, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced, after aerial surveillance carried out by the New England Aquarium than 75 North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) had gathered in an area 10 miles (16 km) north of Boston.
An unusual grouping that raised questions.
A food source at the origin of this meeting?
This could be one of the reasons why so many right whales gathered during the week of January 13, 2025. Indeed, a significant proliferation of food is often the main cause of an animal gathering. This is something we often notice around waterholes in the African savannah for example.
However, Orla O'Brien, a marine biology scientist who helped spot the gathering of right whales, believes something else could be behind this large-scale gathering.
In comments reported by CBS Newsthe researcher takes the example of the last gathering of right whales that she witnessed. It was between July and August 2024 and, this time, 82 specimens had been spotted off the coast of New York.
“I think it showed us that whales respond very dynamically to ocean phenomena, and that climate conditions and changes in the Gulf of Maine and surrounding waters force whales to respond in ways that we don't expect. Maybe I wasn't expecting it.” she explained.
Measures taken to protect right whales
Faced with this gathering of 75 right whales off the East Coast of the United States, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration posted on Facebook the procedure to follow to protect mammals.
In this post, we learn in particular that the aggregation zone can be crossed by boats but at a speed not exceeding 10 knots (18.5 km/h), but also that right whales are protected by federal law. In fact, it prohibits anyone from approaching the species within 500 yards or 457.2 meters.
A critically endangered species
If we told you that 75 herrings or sardines had gathered in an area in an unusual way, the news of this grouping would not really matter.
However, CBS News specifies that in the case of right whales, it would be approximately 20% of the world population. Which, with a simple calculation, would give us a global population of North Atlantic right whales of approximately 375 individuals. The species is therefore classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
This is particularly why NOAA has taken measures to alert of the presence of right whales north of Boston, because collisions with boats are the main causes of mortality among these animals.
Source : CBS News
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