The Pros And Cons Of North Atlantic Right Whales

Although more than two-thirds of the Earth is covered in water, there is still a general misunderstanding of the ocean by the public. This misunderstanding of wonderment and misunderstanding has led to movies portraying the ocean as a “final frontier” with tremendous, mythical beasts as demonstrated in the recently released movies of The Meg (2021) and Underwater (2022). Although, the most acclaimed works are based on real-life events such as Moby Dick and Jaws. In both of these books, the characters go through trials and tribulations in quarreling with these deep sea monsters in the process suffering their limbs and lives. On the contrary, however, it is humankind who has become the ocean’s monsters. North Atlantic Right Whales are dying and

In fact, a federal district court ruled NOAA to craft “new rules protecting the right whales from fishing entanglement by blocking off roped fishing where these whales are present.” Despite the decision, however, Congress overruled the court order. Organizer of the Amelia Island Conservation Network and the Right Whale Festival, Candis Whitney states “Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, with the support of senators Angus King and Chuck Schumer as well as Janet Mills, quietly worked to attach a rider within the Fiscal Year 2023 Omnibus spending bill, overruling the court order and delaying the Federal Government from enacting these rope fishing restrictions until Dec. 31, 2028.” She further elaborates in the article, “Candis Whitney: Congress Deals Blow to Endangered North Atlantic Right

Warmer water would have brought in fewer Calanus (right whale food source) and also meant that more died and were eaten earlier in the season, Dr. Record said, leaving less food, "right when right whales need their last big meal before winter."”

Furthermore, it can not be understated the sublethal impact of manure and agricultural runoff into the ocean. According to the Atlantic magazine by J.B. McKinnon, “right whales have the highest prevalence of Giardia and Cryptosporidium, mainly from sewage and agricultural manure runoff, ever recorded in any mammal.” Moreover, “the whales are similarly exposed to an alphabet soup of chemicals (DDT, PCBs, PAHs, etc.), oil and gas, flame retardants, pharmaceuticals, pesticides—all the effluvia of