Scientists have been studying the increasing numbers of great whale deaths reported since 2007.
Marine mammal experts are scrambling to uncover what has caused a mass death of baby right whales along southern Argentina’s Patagonian coast over the past three years.
The International Whaling Commission has convened an urgent meeting near where more than 300 dead whales were found.
“It has been established that a die-off like this was a completely unknown phenomenon and nothing like it has been seen anywhere else in the world,” said Argentine Whale Conservation Institute president Diego Taboada.
Most of the fatalities have been among baby southern right whales, which have appeared to be severely malnourished.
“Peninsula Valdes is one of the most important calving and nursing grounds for the species found throughout the Southern Hemisphere,” said IWC Scientific Committee member Howard Rosenbaum. “By working with the government of Argentina, the Province of Chubut, the IWC, and our diverse team of experts and specialists, we can increase our chances of solving this mystery, the critical next step to ensuring a future for this population of southern right whales.”
While southern right whale populations in Australia and South Africa have not been affected, researchers estimate that there are only 10,000 southern right whales alive today. The species was hunted to near extinction before a hunting ban took effect in the 1930s.
