Democracy Dies in Darkness
Climate and Environment

These whales are so decimated that a single birth was cheered by scientists

Slalom the North Atlantic right whale, survivor of multiple deadly fishing net entanglements, gave birth. But can mother and calf survive dangerous, human-infested waters?

By
December 3, 2021 at 5:17 p.m. EST
A North Atlantic right whale mother and calf in waters near Wassaw Island, Ga., in January. (Georgia Department of Natural Resources/AP)
5 min

In the ocean off South Carolina, researchers spotted something attached to Slalom the North Atlantic right whale, and for once, it was a good thing. She had a baby.

A sigh of relief spread across the community of Atlantic whale watchers who know critically endangered right whales are as likely to die as they are to give birth. On her path to motherhood at age 39, Slalom — named for a series of callous-like patches on her head that swoop like a ski slope — has survived at least six fishing net entanglements that are known to kill whales.