Mating Season Can Be Perilous for Right Whales

Humans Hold Key to Survival of Endangered Species Migrating to Southeast U.S.

One of fewer than 350 North Atlantic right whales and her calf swim about a mile off the beach at Pawleys Island, S.C., last year. ( - By Allison Glass -- Associated Press)

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- As autumn wanes and North Atlantic right whales again migrate to calving grounds off the Southeast coast, humans will determine the fate of the majestic creatures hunted almost to extinction in centuries past.

As few as 300 and no more than 350 endangered right whales are thought to survive in the ocean.

"The problem with right whales is everything is so complex that there is really no silver-bullet answer," said Barb Zoodsma, who coordinates Southeast recovery efforts for the whales at the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Right whales got their name because they were the right whales for whalers to hunt -- they had a lot of blubber, could be found relatively close to shore and floated after they were killed.

Today, the biggest human threats to the whales are being hit by ships or getting entangled in fishing gear.

"I think we control the prognosis," Zoodsma said. "Controlling and dictating how this ends up is not going to be easy. Some difficult decisions are going to have to be made."

Rules requiring ships to report whale sightings and limiting the use of certain fishing gear are designed to help. Regulators are also considering a speed limit for ships and bigger boats in areas where the whales are active.

During the calving season from mid-November though the middle of April, large ships entering the calving area must report sightings of the whales to the Coast Guard.

The area is off the Georgia and northern Florida coasts, but Zoodsma said there are indications that, during warmer winters, the whales do not swim so far south to give birth.

That means in some years they might be giving birth along the coast of the Carolinas. The whales, she said, like water temperatures of about 57 to 63 degrees.

Ships of 300 gross tons or more must report sightings "but we would like anyone who spots one to let us know because they are so endangered," said Coast Guard Petty Officer Bobby Nash.

If a whale is spotted, the agency broadcasts the location to other ships and recreational boaters, he said. The black whales are generally hard to see in the ocean, which can result in ship strikes.