North American right whales continue to decline in number, dropping to an estimated 340 of the critically endangered marine mammals, according to a report released Monday.
Down from an estimated 348 last year, it's the smallest annual decline in six years for one of the world's most endangered large whale populations, but it's still a loss of more than 110 whales in just five years.
The latest estimates prompted renewed calls from scientists and conservation organizations to do more to protect the whales, which can sometimes be seen close to shore in Canada, New England and the Southeast.
Population estimates come from the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium, a group of more than 200 individuals with whale conservation and research organizations, U.S. and Canadian agencies, and the shipping and fishing industries. The consortium begins its two-day annual meeting Tuesday to work on its annual "report card."
“While it is certainly good to see the slope of the trajectory slow, the unfortunate reality is that the species continues to trend downward,” said Heather Pettis, the consortium's executive administrator and a research scientist in the New England Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life.
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