23. That's how many North Atlantic right whale calves were born this season in the shallow coastal waters off the U.S. Southeast, the highest count since 2009.
23 North Atlantic right whale calves were born this season — the best year for the species since 2009.
For a species that's spent decades close to extinction, that's not just a good year, it's the best one in 17. Right whales return to these same warm, shallow nurseries every winter to give birth. This season, researchers counted, watched, and in some cases named individual whales as they showed up. One, catalogued simply as #4617 and nicknamed "Mirror," was spotted with her calf in March, just off the coast.
Still Far From Solved
Nobody's calling this solved. Right whales still face real threats: ship strikes, fishing gear entanglement, a shrinking food supply. But a season like this one is proof the comeback is still possible when the population gets room to breathe.
Image credit: North Atlantic right whale with calf