1. North Atlantic Right Whale

North Atlantic Right Whale Stories

A baby humpback whale glides along its mother's back underwater

Whales on the move

The growing dangers whales face worldwide along their epic migrations are signs of an ocean in peril, and reveal how these waters connect us all.

  • Here's how satellite data is helping to protect whales

    WWF Magazine: Summer 2023
    Despite improved policies to protect these animals in recent decades, whales increasingly face warmer waters and the impacts of global trade.
    A baby humpback whale glides along its mother's back underwater

  • North Atlantic right whale population continues to decline, raising alarms

    November 29, 2021

    Only 366 critically endangered North Atlantic right whales are left, experts say, representing a shocking 8% decline in a single year and the lowest number in about 20 years for this iconic species. Human impacts—specifically entanglements in fixed fishing gear and vessel strikes from ship traffic—remain the biggest threats to the survival of this species.

    North Atlantic right whale and calf swim in green waters off the coast of Florida

  • Whales and the plastics problem

    February 18, 2021

    Protecting whales is crucial to protecting healthy oceans for all of us. Yet even these ocean giants are being impacted by the "deadliest predator in the sea": plastic pollution.

    A sperm whale floats toward the surface of the ocean while a white plastic bag floats just below

  • US permanently protects some of the Arctic's most important marine areas

    December 20, 2016

    Just one week after scientists warned of unprecedented change brought on by warming in the Arctic, President Obama announced permanent protection for 115 million acres of federal waters in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. Including previous presidential withdrawals, today's action protects nearly 125 million acres in the offshore Arctic from future oil and gas activity.

    sea ice in the Arctic