Juno swimming with her calf, before the vessel strike that took the calf’s life. Photo: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission under NOAA Permit #26919.
When I heard the first North Atlantic right whale baby of the season had been born last November, I was thrilled. This was my first season working on right whale conservation, so I delighted in seeing pictures of the little guy swimming alongside its mother. I felt especially devastated when barely a month later, pictures surfaced of the calf with brutal wounds slicing open its face.
A boat had already struck the first calf of the 2023/2024 season. This tragedy could have been avoided. But the government refuses to implement reasonable speed restrictions for ships and boats, even in areas where officials know right whale mothers and babies migrate. That makes these collisions common and often fatal. Sure enough,…
