Chapter II — Species of Special Concern 



sures. Even for this population, however, major 

 information gaps exist. The only areas known to be 

 used regularly in winter by more than a few whales 

 are Cape Cod Bay and the population's only calving 

 grounds in coastal waters off the east coasts of Florida 

 and Georgia. The former area is used by at least a 

 few tens of animals, mostly adults, and the latter area 

 is used by females about to give birth or those with 

 new calves and by some juveniles, which constitute 

 perhaps 10 to 20 percent of the total population. It is 

 not known where the remainder of the population can 

 be found in winter. During non-winter months, most 

 right whale sightings occur in coastal waters off New 

 England and southeastern Canada {i.e.. New Bruns- 

 wick and Nova Scotia), where four principal feeding 

 areas have been identified: Cape Cod Bay and the 

 Great South Channel off Massachusetts, the Bay of 

 Fundy just north of the U.S. -Canada border, and the 

 Roseway Basin off southern Nova Scotia. At any one 

 time, the proportion of the population using these 

 areas may be small, and it is not clear whether or 

 where other non-winter feeding areas occur. 



Over the past 20 years the number of calves born 

 annually has averaged fewer than 12 and has shown 

 no sign of increasing. Between 1993 and 1997 annual 

 calf counts were 6, 9, 7, 22, and 20. Preliminary 

 data suggest that only 6 calves were born in 1998, one 

 of which was found dead. Data for the past 10 years 

 also suggest that the calving interval for mature 

 females has increased from less than four years to 

 nearly six years, implying that reproduction rates are 

 declining. These data and trends raise grave doubts 

 about the survival of this population. Any increase in 

 mortality beyond natural levels, even the death of a 

 few additional animals, may be the difference between 

 recovery and decline toward a point where recovery 

 is impossible. 



There are two principal causes of human-related 

 right whale death and injury in the western North 

 Atlantic: collisions with ships and entanglement in 

 commercial fishing gear. From 1970 through 1998, 

 43 dead right whales have been confirmed by direct 

 observation along the east coasts of the United States 

 and Canada. Of these, 13 were killed by ships, 2 by 

 entanglement in fishing gear, and 2 others were 

 entangled in fishing gear when struck and killed by 

 ships. Thus, at least 40 percent (17 of 43 carcasses) 



of all confirmed deaths since 1970 are attributable to 

 human factors. As suggested in previous annual 

 reports, perhaps two-thirds of all right whale deaths 

 are never observed. If the proportion of deaths due to 

 human causes is the same for both observed and 

 unobserved deaths, human factors would be responsi- 

 ble for nearly doubling right whale mortality. Such 

 an increase could explain why the western North 

 Atlantic right whale population has shown little 

 evidence of recovery. 



The National Marine Fisheries Service has lead 

 responsibility for the recovery of northern right 

 whales under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and 

 the Endangered Species Act. At the recommendation 

 of the Marine Mammal Commission, the Service 

 developed a northern right whale recovery plan that 

 was adopted in 1991. The plan lists research and 

 management actions needed to promote the recovery 

 of right whale populations in U.S. waters. Because 

 right whale sightings in the eastern North Pacific are 

 so sparse (about 30 sightings of one or two animals 

 each scattered between Alaska, California, and Hawaii 

 in the 20 years before plan development), it was 

 determined that research and management tasks for 

 the eastern North Pacific population were impractical. 

 The plan therefore focused available resources on 

 recovery of the western North Atlantic population. 



One of the first steps taken by the National Marine 

 Fisheries Service to implement a recovery program 

 for the western North Atlantic population was to form 

 two regional implementation teams: one along the 

 southeastern U.S. coast and the other for the north- 

 eastern U.S. coastal waters. The southeastern team 

 was established in 1993 to help oversee protection of 

 right whales using the calving area off Florida and 

 Georgia, and the northeastern team, which also helps 

 coordinate recovery of humpback whales, was estab- 

 lished in 1994 to coordinate right whale protection in 

 feeding areas off New England. Each team includes 

 representatives of regional offices of federal agencies, 

 state agencies, relevant industry groups, environmen- 

 tal organizations, and research organizations involved 

 in funding or carrying out right whale recovery work. 



Federal and state agencies participating on one or 

 both teams include the Army Corps of Engineers, the 

 Coast Guard, the Marine Mammal Commission, the 



