How Ghost Nets Are Killing the Whale‑Wilder’s Appetite for Babies
Picture a majestic North Atlantic right whale trudging for months—yes, MONTHS—trying to undo itself from a tangled mess of abandoned fishing gear. It’s like watching a toddler wrestle with a muddy, plastic spaghetti of lines. All that effort leaves very little energy left for the elephant of the sea to mate, nurture, or even smile at the little ones. The entire species is stuck in this vicious cycle, and the reason? Human interference that stopped once after the era of gun‑shot harpoons and hulking factory ships.
Population Time‑Line: From Boom to Bust
- Back in the day, these whales numbered in the tens of thousands.
- Fast forward to today: roughly 450 individuals—wow, that’s tiny!
- From 1990 the population climbed slowly, but by around 2010, the trend turned steeper downhill.
Scientists from the NOAA Northeastern Fisheries Science Center—led by Peter Corkeron—say the difference is pretty sharp. Had the Caribbean and Atlantic corridors been free from nets, ships, and other human messiness, the population would almost be double what it is now. And, yes, that would mean the urgency would be two chapters lighter.
Why the Numbers Are All About the Females
The storyline is that the whale’s development hinges on female survival. They found that during 1970‑2009, 80% of the 122 recorded deaths in the North Atlantic right whale were thanks to human ones—like nets or collisions. The species has been free from hunting for over 50 years, but humanity’s leftover stuff is still the biggest threat.
Little Pilot Whale’s Glitchy Case
A small male pilot whale was rescued near the Malaysia border. While a side‑story, it sparked a comparison between the Atlantic right whales and their Southern sister.
Southern Right Whales: The Upside Down World
Those Southern right whales, living across South America, Africa, and Southwest Australia, were found to reproduce twice as often as the northern cousins. Their environment is far better—less entanglement from nets, less dangerous traffic, and a calmer life overall. All this means the Southern population (estimated at 15,000) is thriving nicely, while the North Atlantic remains on a slow decline.
Ghost Nets: The Eternal Web
Did the study period have a name? “Ghost nets”. Yes, those invisible, long‑lasting nets made of synthetic fibers that will stay in the ocean for years, and they punch holes in whales’ lives.
- 80% of North Atlantic right whales get tangled at least once.
- More than half have done so twice or more.
- Recovery can take months—sometimes years—much like a pregnancy; you literally have to wait for the mother to recover before she can procreate again.
These entanglements aren’t just a nuisance. They cause piercings, weight loss, and a total disregard for mating—like a rabbit that’s tired of being bullied will ignore the rabbits at the mating pad because it just can’t bring itself to hop and vie for the egg.
Why the Southern “Good” Reputation Matters
The southern whales grew to about 20 metres—wow, that’s basically a small car on steroids—and weigh 100 tonnes. It’s like a fully-loaded jet. The whales were excessively docile and full of blubber for orange juice in the 20th‑century market… well, for whale oil. That’s why they were easy prey for the whalers who got themselves a slot in that industry.
Invariantly, they do not face the same timing of entanglement as their northern relatives. In one sense, the Southern right whales took the raw, rugged boom and turned it into a hiss‑at‑an‑options for better genetics. But the North Atlantic whales keep fighting the tide of accidental mortalities.
Take‑away: The Ocean’s Net‑Wreck Problem Is Real
To make sure the whales could decide where to put the next calf and not get stuck in a net: we need to prune the trash—especially the ghost nets—and cleaner shipping lanes. Let’s give these gentle giants a chance to rebound; otherwise, we risk having a very small, slightly more lonely clan of “tank, whale, and nobody wants to share” in the big blue.