Path to extinction for North Atlantic right whales
Path to extinction for North Atlantic right whales By Doug Fraser By Mary Ann Bragg Posted Mar 24, 2018 With recent deaths and fewer than 450 North Atlantic right whales remaining, experts fear loss of species PROVINCETOWN — Inside the cabin of the research vessel Shearwater, Charles “Stormy” Mayo, senior scientist and director of the Right Whale Ecology Program at the Center for Coastal Studies, pulled up on his computer an image of the family tree of North Atlantic right whale #1140. This whale — dubbed “Wart” by researchers — has a file of photographs, identifying marks, and a life history, as does nearly every one of the remaining 451 right whales on earth. “Her productivity has been extraordinary,” Mayo said. But Wart hasn’t been seen since 2014, and some worry her fabled life may have come to an end. Last summer was particularly tragic with 16, possibly 17, right whales — 4 percent of the remaining population — ki...