Researchers at the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium have shared that in 2024, the population increased by just over 2 percent compared to 2023.<\/p>\n
That’s 8 new whale calves, bringing the total number of remaining animals to an estimated 384. While that’s only a small bump, it’s a hopeful turn of events. Since 2020, the North Atlantic right whale population has increased by more than 7 percent.<\/p>\n
The decade before that, however, the population plummeted by about 25 percent.<\/p>\n
Related: Critically-Endangered North Atlantic Right Whale Found Dead, Tangled in Rope<\/a><\/p>\n “It’s always a great feeling when we can share positive news about this critically endangered species,” says<\/a> Heather Pettis, who leads the right whale research program at the New England Aquarium.<\/p>\n “The slight increase in the population estimate, coupled with no detected mortalities and fewer detected injuries than in the last several years, leaves us cautiously optimistic about the future of North Atlantic right whales.”<\/p>\n Still, there’s no room for complacency. Pettis warns that it’s not yet time to take our foot off the gas, conservation-wise.<\/p>\n So far this year, there have been no recorded deaths of North Atlantic right whales, but many are injured or in poor health<\/a> and birth rates are down.<\/p>\n North Atlantic right whales are said to have received their name because historically, they were the ‘right’ whales for humans to kill. By the early 1890s<\/a>, the species was hunted almost to extinction.<\/p>\n Today, the population is protected, but it still faces many threats. Whales are at risk of dying from collisions with vessels and from entanglement in fishing gear.<\/p>\n According to the environmental non-profit organization Oceana, each year, fishing gear entangles around a quarter of the North Atlantic right whale population<\/a> in the US and Canada. About 85 percent<\/a> of the whales have been entangled at least once.<\/p>\n “Detecting entanglements is challenging as it requires two things to align: people to be looking and whales to be present in those times and locations where they’re looking,” says<\/a> Philip Hamilton, senior scientist at the New England Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center.<\/p>\n Win a $10,000 Space Coast Adventure Holiday<\/p>\n Other tactics to minimize whale deaths include temporary fishing-free zones<\/a> and switching to ropeless fishery gear<\/a>, but these programs need community support.<\/p>\n![\"North](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1caae9d690bd8b05f652072a900e549b.jpeg\"\/)
North Atlantic right whale population estimates. (NEAQ<\/a>)<\/p>\n![\"North](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/edbeefd40fc3630c17f1b91172990604.jpeg\"\/)
October 2024 estimates. (NOAA<\/a>)<\/p>\n![\"North](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/22cf0ae5051a7edcd3bc7d873e1765af.jpeg\"\/)
A North Atlantic right whale with propeller scars. (NOAA<\/a>)<\/p>\n![\"Win](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/aba9b57912b7b05c125c59b048ce1a26.jpeg\"\/)
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