This is the fourth story in a series on Canada-U.S. cross-border measures to protect North Atlantic right whales.
In the waters off the coast of New York and New Jersey, on a February morning with low-lying clouds and fresh snow, a North Atlantic right whale calf is spotted rolling over its mother’s back, revealing distinctive propeller scars behind the adult female’s blowholes.
About 15 years ago, Accordion (#4150) survived a vessel strike leading to her namesake wound that resembles the musical instrument. Now, during an aerial survey, researchers find her – and her one-month-old calf – in danger again.
The first-time mother and her calf are skimming the water’s surface near five container ships anchored in the Ambrose Channel, the most active of three shipping lanes in the Port of New York and New Jersey. It’s the largest container port on the U.S.-Canada Eastern seaboard, and one of the busiest waterways in the world.
The last time researchers spotted Accordion was in July, 2024, at the outermost limits of the New York Bight, about 160 kilometres southeast of New York in Hudson Canyon, the largest submarine valley off the U.S. East Coast.
Researchers spotted Accordion in July, 2024, about 160 kilometres southeast of New York City in Hudson Canyon. The canyon is located near a busy shipping corridor used by large container ships as they approach, then are piloted into the Port of New York and New Jersey.
MURAT YÜKSELIR / THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION; NEW ENGLAND AQUARIUM; MARINETRAFFIC; OPENSTREETMAP; Lauren Owens Lambert/The Globe and Mail
That sighting was part of a habitat shift observed last year between May and August when 40 per cent of the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale population was recorded foraging there, also near New York-New Jersey shipping corridors.
Vessel strikes are a leading cause of serious injury and death for the species. As climate change alters the distribution of food sources, right whales are foraging in areas that current protections – including altering or restricting vessel routes and establishing voluntary or mandatory speed restrictions – do not adequately cover.
If safeguards do not meet North Atlantic right whales where they are, the risk of vessel strikes will increase, further threatening this already imperilled species.
Rerouting vessels is impractical in the busy New York-New Jersey shipping lanes where Accordion and her calf were spotted. Meanwhile, vessel slowdown measures in areas that are outside of known seasonal habitats and existing U.S. protection measures – such as Hudson Canyon – are only implemented when whales are sighted.
Even then, these dynamic measures are voluntary south of the border and have lower co-operation compared with mandatory measures.
Large container ships navigate through New York Harbour in April, 2025. All large whale species – blue, fin, sei, sperm, humpback and North Atlantic right whales – occur with some regularity in New York waters. Except for humpbacks, all are federally listed as endangered.Lauren Owens Lambert/The Globe and Mail
Over a three-day span in May and June, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) observed 45 right whales in Hudson Canyon. By late August, with 16 aerial surveys completed, that number had tripled to 156 right whales, accounting for more than 40 per cent of the population, including Accordion.
MURAT YÜKSELIR / THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION; NEW ENGLAND AQUARIUM; MARINETRAFFIC; OPENSTREETMAP
“We need to go further, expanding protected areas in space and time, so it is better aligned with right whale habitat, and so that we can take up these shifts in areas where oceanographic conditions have favourable feeding like Hudson Canyon,” says Jessica Redfern, the associate vice-president of ocean conservation science at the New England Aquarium’s (NEAq) Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life in Boston.
“Mandatory dynamic speed zones would help to buffer against climate-driven changes in North Atlantic right whale habitat,” she adds.
Canada provides a compelling example of responding to changing right whale habitats. Ten years ago, a climate-driven shift in the whales’ foraging area put them in the direct path of shipping lanes in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where vessel-strike protections were not yet in place.
After four right whales died from probable vessel strikes in the area in June and July, 2017, Transport Canada implemented voluntary, then mandatory, speed restrictions that same year in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and, in 2018, introduced mandatory dynamic shipping zones. (Unlike in the U.S., dynamic measures are often mandatory.)
In 2019, when another four died of the same cause in the waterway, the federal agency further enhanced its vessel-strike reduction measures – enforcing mandatory slowdowns, extending the areas covered by speed restrictions and enhancing surveillance. Now, Transport Canada continues to adapt its measures every year.
Researchers perform a necropsy on a dead North Atlantic right whale in Cape Breton, in June, 2019. The whale, known as ‘Punctuation’ (#1281), was a large female who scientists had been tracking since she was first spotted in 1981. Findings of the necropsy revealed the whale’s fatal injuries were due to ‘sharp trauma,’ consistent with a vessel strike.Nick Hawkins/The Globe and Mail
While many vessel-strike deaths and injuries go unseen or unreported – two-thirds go unobserved – Canada has seen no right whale vessel-strike-related deaths since implementing its enhanced measures. (Although the first right whale fatality detected in Canadian waters since 2019 was reported in May, 2024, the cause of death remains unknown.) In contrast, the U.S. has seen continued vessel-strike deaths, including three probable cases last year and one in 2023.
Although there have been no right whale vessel-strike deaths attributed to Hudson Canyon to date and only one to New York waters, in 2020, many factors make detecting these fatalities challenging.
“In the New York Bight, both live and dead right whales have been observed with anthropogenic-induced injuries. However, it is often difficult to determine exactly where and when these incidents occur due to factors like gaps in sighting histories, whale movement and challenges in identifying the source of injury,” says Andrea Gomez, a spokesperson with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries’ Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office.
Other endangered cetaceans that are facing the same threats as right whales have been found dead in the area. In May, 2024, a cruise ship arrived at a New York port with a dead sei whale draped on its bow, highlighting the risk of vessel strikes for large whales.
A North Atlantic right whale known as ‘Lemur’ (#3380) suffered severe damage to its tail from a ship strike in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.Nick Hawkins/The Globe and Mail
Meanwhile, Hudson Canyon is under consideration for a National Marine Sanctuary designation‚ proposed by the Biden administration in 2022 because of its rich biodiversity.
“However, it does not mean that the biggest threats to whales (shipping and fishing) will no longer occur in the area,” says Samantha Rosen, a spokesperson for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Division of Marine Resources.
She pointed to Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, east of Boston, as an example. Known for its seasonal influx of large whales, including right whales, Stellwagen Bank is still home to commercial and recreational shipping and fishing.
Accordion swims near the surface of the sea, in what researchers refer to as the ‘strike zone.’
Accordion was among 156 endangered whales researchers spotted last summer in Hudson Canyon. Voluntary vessel slowdowns to protect the whales in this area are only cued when the whales are detected.TIM COLE (NOAA PERMIT 27066)
North Atlantic right whales spend a lot of time at or close to the surface of the sea, in what researchers refer to as the “strike zone.” Mothers and calves face even greater risks because they frequently rest there. Research also shows that the whales are unlikely to evade approaching vessels owing to the way ship sounds propagate in the water, creating an acoustic shadow ahead of the vessel.
From 1980 to 2024, researchers recorded 122 right whale vessel-strike injuries in U.S. and Canadian waters, including those that were fatal, be it from propeller cuts, gashes or blunt trauma. But these figures are likely an underestimate.
A modelling study published this year in the scientific journal Nature found that the commonly cited average rate of right whale deaths or serious injuries from vessel strikes – 2.4 per year – is likely a minimum estimate.
Larger vessels pose the greatest risk, the study found, with small to medium vessels (26 to 65 feet, or eight to 20 metres) averaging 2.05 deaths per year, large vessels (65 to 350 ft, or 20 to 107 m) averaging 2.47, and oceangoing vessels (more than 350 ft or 107 m) averaging 15.96.
Even if a whale survives a vessel strike, it can still suffer critical injuries, says Philip Hamilton, a senior scientist at NEAq’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life.
One example is Lucky (#2143), a female right whale named for her survival into adulthood despite sustaining deep propeller wounds as a calf.
“Her wound wasn’t really a concern for us because she had thrived throughout her life,” Mr. Hamilton says. However, at 14 years old, researchers found Lucky dead, pregnant with her first calf, off of Florida. An investigation into their deaths revealed that the deep propeller scars from the mother’s early vessel strike had reopened during her first full-term pregnancy, leading to sepsis.
Given the cryptic nature of right whale deaths and injuries, determining the effectiveness of vessel-strike reduction measures is a challenge. For example, NOAA found that the vessel-strike mortality rate of right whales decreased from 10 deaths in the decade prior to implementation of its 2008 vessel speed rule to four deaths in the decade afterward. However, researchers observed an increase in the number of injuries during the latter period, potentially influenced by increased awareness and reporting.
Among the ways to reduce vessel-strike risk are rerouting or restricting vessel traffic and slowing vessels down.
The goal of measures that change vessel routes, such as shifting the location or configuration of shipping lanes or establishing areas to be avoided, is to reduce the co-occurrence of whales and vessels.
Both Canada and the U.S. have restricted and rerouted vessel traffic to reduce overlap with right whale habitats. Most notably, Canada rerouted Bay of Fundy shipping lanes in 2003, and implemented an area to be avoided in nearby Roseway Basin in 2008. The U.S. shifted Boston harbour shipping lanes in 2006, and implemented a no-go zone in the Great South Channel east of Cape Cod, Mass., in 2009.
“These areas were targeted for vessel-strike reduction measures because they were well-known seasonal feeding and aggregation areas for right whales over three decades and vessel-strike mortalities had occurred. Management efforts were focused on known habitat areas,” says Moira Brown, the director of science at the Canadian Whale Institute.
“We understood right whales were still running the gauntlet between the protected areas, but, at the time, surveillance was insufficient outside of critical habitat areas to inform dynamic measures.”
However, changing or restricting vessel traffic is tedious. It requires extensive analysis (of whale distribution and movements, vessel traffic patterns and navigational hazards) as well as consultation (domestically and internationally, with the International Maritime Organization) before new shipping routes are incorporated into navigational charts and advisories for foreign and domestic vessels.
As a result, slowing vessels down is often the more straightforward and immediate solution – the goal of which is to reduce the risk of lethal vessel strikes. Studies have found that a 10-knot speed limit is the most effective in reducing risk of vessel-strike mortality and serious injury of large whales.
Seasonal measures in Canada and the U.S. slow vessels to 10 knots in known right whale habitats, while dynamic protections are put in place for 15 days following a confirmed right whale presence.
But while Transport Canada adapts its vessel-strike prevention measures each year, the U.S. remains at a standstill after withdrawing its proposal to amend its vessel speed rule in January in response to considerable pushback from mariners and lawmakers.
In an impact assessment study undertaken in 2020, NOAA estimated that the annual economic cost of complying with vessel-strike reduction measures would be US$28.3- to US$39.4-million, with the majority of the cost borne by the container ship sector.
Lauren Owens Lambert/The Globe and Mail
The proposal called for expanding mandatory seasonal 10-knot speed limits over a longer period, across a larger geography and for more types of vessels (those 35 to 65 feet or 11 to 20 m in length, since the rule currently mandates slowdowns for vessels 65 ft / 20 m or greater). Most of NOAA’s seasonal measures are in areas around major ports – for example, within a 20-nautical-mile radius of the ports of New York and New Jersey.
Vessel-strike reduction measures come with considerable costs. In NOAA’s vessel speed rule assessment in 2020, the agency undertook an economic impact assessment to evaluate the cost of compliance. “The yearly cost to industry is estimated to be US$28.3- to US$39.4-million annually, with the majority of the cost (58 to 70 per cent) borne by the container ship sector,” it wrote.
By comparison, a report commissioned by Transport Canada and set to be released this fall estimates that the additional transportation costs resulting from vessel slowdowns in active speed restriction zones amounted to about US$14.6-million between 2017 and 2023.
When Canada launched slowdown measures in 2017, those, too, only applied to vessels 65 ft (20 m) or greater. But recognizing that fast-moving smaller vessels also harm whales, Transport Canada amended its requirements in 2019 to include vessels of 43 ft (13 m) or more.
Any mandatory measure is only as effective as compliance, Dr. Redfern says. But unlike the success of dynamic measures, which in the U.S. depends completely on voluntary co-operation from the industry, compliance can be improved through enforcement, she adds.
Transport Canada and NOAA monitor and enforce speed restrictions, issuing fines and warnings. Canada additionally makes public its compliance figures. For example, as of July 11, of the 4,324 vessels monitored in speed restriction zones in Canadian waters this year, Transport Canada recorded 92 vessels speeding above speed limits or entering restricted areas. All but 13 of those cases, which are pending or under review, are closed with no penalties.
Outside of seasonally protected areas, dynamic speed reduction measures can help protect right whales where they are. But the protections only work if the whales are detected, says Sean Brillant, senior conservation biologist at the Canadian Wildlife Federation in Halifax.
“North Atlantic right whales continue to surprise us with where they go. And our surveillance limitations and assets mean we can’t look everywhere all at once,” he says.
Chris St. Lawrence was the first to spot North Atlantic right whales in Hudson Canyon off New York last May. He is the communications and outreach director for Gotham Whale, a volunteer-run marine research and conservation nonprofit.Lauren Owens Lambert/The Globe and Mail
Chris St. Lawrence, a New York-based student who films wild encounters in urban places, remembers his first North Atlantic right whale sighting in May, 2024.
“We sat there listening. It’s almost not real. You hear these massive animals breathing in the distance,” he says.
In rhythmic cadence, each exhale breaking the silence of the still Atlantic Ocean, 160 kilometres offshore with the motor off in the fog, the young naturalist was with a research team hoping to track sperm whales.
To get a closer look, he pulled out his long-lens camera.
That’s when he spotted the characteristic callosities – the rough patches of skin on right whales’ heads, each like a unique fingerprint.
His role as the communications and outreach director at Gotham Whale, a volunteer-run marine research and conservation non-profit organization in New York, helped him determine what to do next.
Gotham Whale notified NOAA that they had seen at least five right whales in Hudson Canyon. The call, paired with confirmed sightings of a dozen or more in the mid-Atlantic off Virginia and Maryland, prompted the federal agency to deploy its aerial survey team.
Over a three-day span, NOAA observed 45 right whales – about 12 per cent of the population, estimated at 372 – in Hudson Canyon. By late August, with 16 aerial surveys completed, that number had tripled to 156 right whales, accounting for more than 40 per cent of the population, including Accordion.
While researchers have documented pairs or individual right whales off New York and New Jersey since 2010, this marked the first time NOAA saw the whales in such high numbers.
“There hasn’t been consistent survey effort in that region, so it is challenging to say whether there have been similar aggregations in the past,” Ms. Gomez says.
That’s why public reports of whale sightings are especially important, Mr. St. Lawrence says, which is Gotham Whale’s main goal.
“Citizen science efforts help aggregate sightings to understand the story of these animals and the threats they face,” he says.
Visual sightings – commonly from aerial surveys but also from vessel or, in some rare cases, from shore – are what typically lead to North Atlantic right whale detections.
In the U.S., in addition to NOAA, state governments and non-profit partners operate aerial surveys. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is partway through another three years of aerial surveys to monitor right whale presence in the New York/New Jersey Bight and far offshore in the summer.
“The total funding and survey effort is significantly less than what is needed to adequately monitor large whales in the Bight. We are limited to conducting aerial surveys in May, July and September this year,” says Ms. Rosen, with New York State.
Both Canada and the U.S., as well as state governments, also rely on acoustic devices such as monitoring buoys and underwater vehicles or “gliders” to detect right whale presence by identifying their unique vocalizations. Massachusetts is the latest to announce such a program, while New York and New Jersey operate their own with buoys and recently deployed gliders.
Many of these listening devices are tracked publicly in near-real time. As of July, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Robots4Whales program is following detections for 13 acoustic buoys and six gliders deployed between Savannah, Ga., in the southern part of the right whales’ range to the Laurentian Channel in the northern range.
In the same way, countries are testing the use of technologies, such as thermal-imaging cameras mounted on vessels and at land stations, to reduce strikes in real time.
These innovative technologies are detecting the whales, but more work is required to determine whether they can replace, rather than supplement, speed reductions, Dr. Redfern says.
“Right whales must survive long enough to benefit from these new approaches,” Dr. Redfern says.
Meanwhile, in areas that aren’t covered by seasonal or dynamic measures, Ms. Brown notes that it’s not about replacing tools but adding another to the detection box.
Frank DeSantis, Captain of American Princess Cruises, New York’s first whale-watching and dolphin adventure cruise, says mariners remain on the lookout for the critically endangered right whales in the absence of adequate protections.
Lauren Owens Lambert/The Globe and Mail
Sharing real-time communication and information is critical to keeping whales, and mariners, safe. When the NOAA survey team spotted Accordion with her calf in February, they did just that.
“We reached out to our colleagues at the U.S. Coast Guard to issue a broadcast notice to mariners in the area to slow down. As we continued south on our survey line, we hoped Accordion and her calf would safely move on from the area,” says Alison Ogilvie, a marine mammal observer with NOAA’s Northeast Large Whale Aerial Survey team.
By mid-April, the Center for Coastal Studies had spotted Accordion and her calf safely foraging in the seasonally protected waters of Cape Cod Bay, away from vessel traffic. However, researchers remain uncertain about their next destination.
“The place I would expect to see her and her calf, most likely, would be offshore of New England,” Mr. Hamilton says.
Considering Accordion’s sighting history, it could mean the pair will return to Hudson Canyon this summer. But while NOAA has observed right whales there again this year, the numbers have not returned to 2024 levels.
Accordion and her calf are spotted on Feb. 3, 2025, in New York-New Jersey shipping corridors.
MURAT YÜKSELIR / THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION; MARINETRAFFIC; OPENSTREETMAP
Even so, Captain Frank DeSantis of American Princess Cruises, New York’s first whale-watching and dolphin adventure cruise, which works with Gotham Whale, says mariners remain on the lookout for the critically endangered right whales in the absence of adequate protections.
“We know most of the folks on boats, whether they’re fishing commercially or recreationally, so we’re on a radio, talking to each other. We can let everyone know – including vessel traffic, so that loops in the commercial ships in the area – when we see a whale, if it’s close to a shipping area or shipping lanes,” he says, speaking from the wheelhouse of a cruise boat anchored in Brooklyn.
“We have to be able to co-exist as humans, shipping and whales,” Mr. DeSantis says. “With the goal being not to harm whales, because I don’t think anybody’s out there intentionally looking to do that.”
This story is part of a series produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center’s Ocean Reporting Network.