North Atlantic right whale population numbers ticked slightly upward in 2024, continuing a positive trend from 2020 but falling short of what experts say is required to recover the critically endangered marine mammal.
The New England Aquarium survey is based on 2024 sightings and places the right whale population at 384 individuals, up from 376 in 2023. Researchers also documented fewer right whale moralities in 2024 and fewer detected injuries than in recent years.
But scientists stopped short of calling the number a win for right whale recovery, saying measures to reduce vessel strikes and fishing gear entanglements must continue to achieve a long-term rebound of right whales that migrate along the coast from Maine to Florida.
Heather Pettis, who leads the right whale program at the aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life and chairs the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium, said the latest survey “leaves us cautiously optimistic about the future of North Atlantic right whales.”
