May 8, 2009 12:47 pm US/Eastern
Record Birthing Season For Right Whales
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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A mother right whale and her calf in the calving grounds off Florida and Georgia.
NEAq/NMFS/NOAA
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Two mother right whales and their calves in the calving grounds off Florida and Georgia.
NEAq/NMFS/NOAA
North Atlantic right whales, among the most endangered in the world, had a record birthing season.
The whales, which live off the New England and Canadian coast but give birth in the warmer waters off Florida and Georgia, added 39 babies to their population this year. That compares to just a single right whale calf born in 2000.
A right whale calf
weighs about 2,400 pounds at birth and measures about 13 feet long. There are currently fewer than 400 North Atlantic right whales in existence.
"Everything points to the fact that the whales are in good condition physically," said New England Aquarium whale expert Philip Hamilton. "Many mothers are giving birth every three years which is ideal, and many young females are growing fast enough to become first time mothers at younger ages."
Scientists credit an abundance of the whales' preferred food, a plankton called copepods.
The aquarium has dubbed a whale named 'Baldy' their Mother of the Year. She gave birth to her eighth calf this year. One of her daughters and a granddaughter also give birth this year. Baldy and her offspring have brought nearly five percent of the current right whale population into the world, according to aquarium experts.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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