Friend,
“Hope is a survival trait, and without it, we perish.”
Famed primatologist Jane Goodall describes hope as creating a plan and setting a course to move forward despite knowing there will be obstacles to overcome: “Hope does not deny all the difficulty and all the danger that exists, but it is not stopped by them. There is a lot of darkness, but our actions create light.”
I attended the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium Annual Meeting, preceded by two days of the Ropeless Consortium Annual Meeting in Providence, RI. The good news is that the right whale population for 2023 rose to 372. In 2022, there were 367 right whales, an increase of 1.9%. The 2023 increase in population included 12 whale calves.
Unfortunately, in 2024, three right whales were killed by ship strikes, one by entanglement and one by an unknown cause. Alarming was the death of four females with calves. Researchers presume the four calves are dead. At least 12 right whales have suffered injuries in 2024.
The Consortium is working in overdrive with the government to reduce ship strikes and mandate lineless lobster gear. We must do better with more best practices for a healthier, more verdant ocean environment where right whales may thrive again.
As Jane Goodall reminds us, fighting the good fight will always be difficult. Yet, hope shines the light in the darkness and the way forward to strive.
Researchers have identified four components of hope. The first is setting realistic goals and identifying realistic pathways to achieve them. Mental fortitude in the face of daunting circumstances is needed to achieve goals. The fourth is support from others, fellowship, and teamwork to overcome adversities met along the way. Hope is cyclical. The more of each component we have, the more we encourage each other to act against the wind for the greater good.
We’re creating a community of folks like you, activists full of hope and grit, to call for a Right Whale National Marine Sanctuary.
Come join us on Substack (click here or on the button below) and be among the first to read my illustrated report that includes 143 right whales off Hudson Canyon, the threat of Elon Musk's Starlink controlling New England's lobster fleet, more mother-calf right whale pairs coming to Cape Cod Bay, and decreasing phytoplankton productivity with decreasing caloric value in copepods coincidental with a ten-fold increase in herbicide (glyphosate) use.
Steady on,
Rob
