HALIFAX — The number of North Atlantic right whales is not growing as fast as scientists would like, but new figures released Tuesday show that the population of the endangered species is showing signs of recovery after years of dramatic declines.
A whale conservation group says the estimated population of North Atlantic right whales in 2024 was 384, a rise of 2.1 per cent over the estimate of 376 in 2023.
“It’s slow, but we’ll take slow growth over decline any day,” Heather Pettis with the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium said in an interview. “It means the sort of free-fall decline in the population has stabilized and we are seeing the population recover slowly each of the last couple of years.”
The number of whales estimated for 2022 was 356. The population had experienced a steady decline from a recent high of 500 animals in 2011 to a low of 359 in 2020.
“We’ve seen another year where the population estimate has gone up just a little bit, but still an increase is better than we’ve seen in the past,” Pettis said, adding that the number for 2024 is “great news.”
The figure released Tuesday by the consortium was calculated by scientists from the New England Aquarium and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the United States. Factored into the estimate is the number of whale calves born within the last year.
So far in 2025, 11 calves have been born in waters off the southeastern U.S., fewer than what scientists had hoped for. Pettis said researchers had assumed a higher percentage of the 72 reproductive females available to give birth this year would do so. Still, there were four first-time mothers in 2025, which is a positive sign, the researcher said.
“A good year would be lots of repeat mothers with new females giving birth,” said Pettis. Twenty calves were born in 2024.
Meanwhile, with just over two months left in the year, there have been no right whale deaths reported. One vessel strike has been reported, and there has been one reported case of a whale becoming entangled in fishing gear.
Entanglements and vessel strikes are the leading causes of serious injury and death for right whales, and scientists caution that 50 per cent of entanglements in 2024 were detected in the latter half of the year, including four in December.
Scientists describe 2024 as a difficult year for the population with five deaths reported and 16 cases of entanglements — in 10 of those cases, the gear remained attached to the animal. There were also eight vessel strikes reported.
North Atlantic right whales migrate each year from the coast of Florida to the Gulf of St. Lawrence off Atlantic Canada where they go largely to feed. The whales used to migrate more to the Bay of Fundy to feed on plankton, but in recent years have gradually moved to feeding grounds in the gulf because of a change in ocean temperatures.
Pettis said they have also been observed in recent years congregating in new areas such as off the coasts of New York and New Jersey.
“They are going to go where there’s food and if that food source is shifting, they are going to shift,” she said. “What that means for protection measures is we need to respond quickly.”
The new population figures were released ahead of the consortium’s annual meeting in New Bedford, Mass., which begins Wednesday. The two-day meeting will draft its annual report on the state of the species and publish it early next year.
The North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium is composed of research and conservation organizations and includes fishing and shipping industry representatives along with U.S. and Canadian government agencies.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2025.
Keith Doucette, The Canadian Press