University of South Carolina assistant professor Erin Meyer-Gutbrod has published research on the plight of the North Atlantic right whale. | https://sc.edu/
University of South Carolina assistant professor Erin Meyer-Gutbrod has published research on the plight of the North Atlantic right whale. | https://sc.edu/
A University of South Carolina assistant professor in the School of the Earth, Ocean and Environment is among authors of research that shows that climate-driven changes affecting ocean ecosystems are hurting right whales.
Erin Meyer-Gutbrod recently published an article “Ocean Regime Shift is Driving Collapse of the North Atlantic Right Whale Population” in Oceanography magazine, according to the Aug. 31 online publication.
Charles Greene of Cornell University, Kimberley Davies of University of New Brunswick and David Johns, a marine scientist from Plymouth, England, co-authored the article.
“Here, we report that climate-driven changes in ocean circulation have altered the foraging environment and habitat use of right whales, reducing the population’s calving rate and exposing it to greater mortality risks from ship strikes and fishing gear entanglement,” Meyer-Gutbrod wrote. “The case of the North Atlantic right whale provides a cautionary tale for the management of protected species in a changing ocean.”
The right whale weighs 140,000 pounds and is 52 feet long, according to an university press release touting Meyer-Gutbrod’s research.
The right whales left in search of food after their traditional foraging grounds had a decline in zooplankton caused by warming of the Gulf of Maine, according to the release. The right whales were exposed to fishing gear entanglements and ship strikes. There are an estimated fewer than 360 right whales remaining.
“The US and Canada maintain protective policies to reduce anthropogenic [human-caused] impacts on the species,” Meyer-Gutbrod said in the release. “This means that my research can have a direct impact on conservation and management.”
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