Slay, who is contracted by the National Marine Fisheries Service to search for whales from mid-Florida to South Carolina, is deeply concerned about the right whales. Slay and a handful of other researchers track right whales by air and by sea each year, searching in a designated critical habitat area and beyond. It's not just the babies that are missing. Fewer than usual adults have been seen this year as well. Robert Kenney, a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island, theorizes that when weather anomalies stir deep sea currents, right whales are not as successful finding food.
Right whales have no teeth.
It could be that female whales are not finding enough to eat to support a successful pregnancy. None of this is good news for a population that is so low. Whales take a long time to reach sexual maturity and a good birth rate is the only thing that will guarantee the species' survival. It would not be prudent to rest all our concerns on the weather. If there is a problem out there, we need to jump on it right away.