- Ship strikes: Right whales are often struck by large vessels, such as cargo ships and tankers, which can cause serious injuries or death.
- Entanglements: Right whales can become entangled in fishing gear, such as ropes, nets, and buoys, which can cause them to drown or become injured.
-Climate change: Changes in ocean temperature, sea level, and food availability due to climate change can affect right whale migration, reproduction, and survival.
- Habitat degradation: Loss and degradation of right whale habitats, such as coastal areas and feeding grounds, can impact their ability to find food and reproduce successfully.
-Noise pollution: Underwater noise from human activities, such as shipping, seismic surveys, and military exercises, can disrupt right whale communication, feeding, and reproduction.
- Toxins and pollutants: Chemicals and pollutants in the marine environment can accumulate in right whale tissues and affect their health and reproductive success.
- Hunting: Historical whaling practices decimated right whale populations, and although commercial whaling for right whales is now banned, illegal hunting still poses a threat.
Conservation efforts are underway to protect right whales, including reducing ship speeds in areas where they frequent, implementing entanglement mitigation measures, creating protected areas, and addressing climate change impacts. However, the decline of right whales is a complex issue that requires ongoing efforts from governments, industries, and individuals to reverse.