There is a boom in North Atlantic right whale numbers, but the species remains at risk

After nearly two For decades, the baby whale returned as a mother, with a little baby of her own. Julie Albert, director of the Right Whale Sighting Network at Blue World Research Institute, a nonprofit organization, first laid eyes on a North Atlantic right whale known as Callosity back in 2007 when it was still just a calf, swimming off the coast of Florida.

She says the whale immediately stood out. Like other North Atlantic right whales, it had callosals – patches of thick, white, rough tissue on its skin. But unlike any other known right whale, this one had these markings on its back.

“That’s how it got its name,” Albert says. “She’s definitely an individual.” Then, on New Year’s Eve 2025, Callosity returned to Florida. A call came from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to say that an unidentified whale and her calf had been spotted off the state’s central east coast. Albert describes how she and her colleagues raced to the pool deck behind a nearby beachfront hotel to get a better view and quickly realized it was Callosity Back.

“I’ve waited 19 years to see this mother,” Albert says. Whale watchers — sometimes joined by hotel guests — watched the mother pair and calf swim for hours, until darkness finally fell.

The Callosity Back Calf is just one of them 21 baby whales At the time of writing they have been documented during the current calving season, which runs from mid-November to mid-April. It is unusual to see so many of these whales born so early in one season. Researchers counted 11 only Last year, for example.

In 2024, there are only 384 North Atlantic right whales left in the wild, according to Reuters. An estimate published last October. Species Used for several thousandbefore commercial whaling nearly wiped out these animals during the 18th and 19th centuries. North Atlantic right whales never recovered and are now on the verge of extinction.

Albert says the baby boom is good news. But this does not change the general picture of these animals, which are still at great risk. A series of collisions with ships, or entanglements with fishing gear, could easily kill enough North Atlantic right whales to tip the species’ fortunes the other way again. As happened in 2017when 18 right whales died over a period of just six months. This year also witnessed The tragic death of whale rescuer Joe Howlettwho was killed after cutting the fishing lines of a North Atlantic right whale in Gulf of St. Lawrence.

People who monitor and protect right whales, and who know the stories of these animals in great detail, will tell you that a spate of calves, while remarkable in their own right, by no means guarantees the long-term survival of this species. But right whales are still worth fighting for, conservationists say, because their small numbers could swell again — if given the chance.

Callosity Back was born a survivor. Her mother is one of only two North Atlantic right whales ever documented to have given birth in cold northeastern waters, far from their usual calving grounds off the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida. (Right whale calves are born without blubber, which means exposure to cold water in the first weeks of life can kill them.)

now, Researchers constantly monitor newborn right whalesThey were surprised by the 21 new arrivals. “In the 1980s and 1990s, we only went over 18, maybe a couple of times, just to give that some context,” says Phil Hamilton, chief scientist at the New England Aquarium. “I hope that number goes up.”