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Unusual sighting of endangered right whales off New York has scientists concerned
BOSTON – Scientists are concerned after seeing nearly a quarter of the world’s population of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales in an unusual and potentially dangerous spot for them.
The New England Aquarium said at least 82 whales were observed in late July and August during research flights south of New York’s Long Island, hundreds of miles away from New England and Canadian waters where they are typically seen in the summer.
“To see those kind of numbers at this time of year near the offshore canyons that are about 40 to 70 miles south of Long Island, New York is pretty unusual,” aquarium scientist Katherine McKenna told WBZ-TV.
New England Aquarium
Why were there so many right whales off Long Island?
On one flight alone researchers spotted 56 right whales alongside fin and humpback whales, dolphins, tuna and sea turtles. That’s the most right whales many of the scientists on the trip have ever seen at one time.
“It was a lot. They were concentrated in such a small area,” said McKenna, who was watching the whales from the air. “There’d be several whales on one side of the plane, and then off to the other side there’d be double that.”
McKenna says scientists don’t know for sure why the whales are near New York, but they seem to be following food. Right whales primarily feed on tiny zooplankton.
“They were first seen in late May and they’ve continued to persist there for several months,” she said. “That indicates there’s been good prey, a good food resource for them to stick around there for that long.”
Concerns about right whales off New York
The presence of whales in the new location is concerning to scientists because the aquarium says there are no mandatory speed restrictions for the many commercial boats in the area of the Hudson and Block submarine canyons where the whales were spotted.
“This is sort of a newer area for the right whales to be popping up in,” McKenna said.
The aquarium noted that several whales had propeller wounds. McKenna said the team spotted boats near the whales and one whale was also pictured swimming near fishing gear.
New England Aquarium
“We were definitely nervous seeing that,” she said.
Vessel strikes and fishing gear entanglement are the leading causes of death for right whales. There are estimated to be fewer than 360 left on Earth.
The aquarium says federal authorities proposed expanding seasonal speed restrictions years ago to protect the whales, but “the untenable delay has put this endangered species at continued risk of extinction.”
Right whale movements “becoming more unpredictable”
Where will the whales go next? McKenna says they are always adapting and in recent years have shown they are ready to go wherever their food is.
“They’re kind of becoming more unpredictable with what they’re doing in response to how the ocean conditions are changing,” she said.
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President-elect Donald Trump fired another salvo in his long-running effort to have his New York criminal conviction tossed, with his attorneys alleging earlier this month that there was juror misconduct during his trial.
In a previously undisclosed Dec. 3 letter to Justice Juan Merchan that was made public Tuesday, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote that there was “grave juror misconduct” in the proceedings in a Manhattan courtroom earlier this year.
However, heavy redactions in the letter and subsequent exchanges with prosecutors obscured almost all information about the accusations themselves.
“The jury in this case was not anywhere near fair and impartial,” they wrote.
Merchan on Tuesday directed Trump to make the redacted letter public, and instructed prosecutors to publish their own redacted responses. The judge also criticized Trump’s lawyers for making such serious allegations without sworn statements.
Prosecutors called the allegations “vague accusations of juror misconduct” in one of their responses. They claimed Trump’s attorneys did not want to have the allegations subject to investigation or a public hearing.
“Notwithstanding the import of their allegations, counsel do not request and in fact oppose a hearing at which their allegations could be fully examined, referring to such a hearing as ‘invasive fact-finding,'” wrote a prosecutor for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Still, they argued such an investigation wasn’t yet appropriate.
“Counsel’s allegations fall far short of the standard required to request such a hearing in any event,” they wrote.
It is unclear if the allegations relate to a June 7 letter from Merchan that alerted prosecutors and Trump’s attorneys to a comment left on the court’s Facebook page the night before Trump’s conviction.
“My cousin is a juror and says Trump is getting convicted,” the user wrote. “Thank you folks for all your hard work!!!!”
The person who made the comment had previously described themselves as a “professional s**tposter.”
Trump was found guilty in May of 34 counts of falsifying business records, connected with a scheme to cover up a “hush money” payment to an adult film star. He pleaded not guilty and is contesting the conviction on multiple fronts.
Japanese automakers Honda Motor and Nissan Motor are reportedly entering merger talks to help them compete against Tesla and other electric vehicle makers, according to the Nikkei financial newspaper.
The two firms are considering operating under a single holding company, and are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding for the new entity, according to the Tokyo-based Nikkei.
The paper also reports that Honda and Nissan are considering bringing in Mitsubishi Motors, of which Nissan is the top shareholder, under the holding company to create one of the world’s largest auto groups.
In a statement to CBS MoneyWatch, Nissan said it has not announced the details in the report, but that the two companies “are exploring various possibilities for future collaboration, leveraging each other’s strengths,” which it announced in March.
Honda did not immediately respond to CBS MoneyWatch’s request for comment.
In March, Japan’s number two and three automakers, after rival Toyota, deepened ties when they agreed to explore a strategic partnership on electric vehicles.
Analysts characterized the move as one that is aimed at helping the automakers catch up with Chinese competitors, including BYD, which have captured more market share, while Japanese firms have lost ground by focusing more on hybrid vehicles.
China overtook Japan as the world’s biggest vehicle exporter in 2023, aided in part by its dominance in the electric car space.
Honda announced plans in May to double its investment in electric vehicles to $65 billion by 2030, as part of a target set three years ago of achieving 100% EV sales by 2040.
Similarly, Nissan in March announced that 16 of the 30 new models it plans to launch over the next three years would be “electrified.”
Climate concerns drive demand
The world’s auto giants are increasingly prioritizing electric and hybrid vehicles, with demand growing for less polluting models as concern about climate change grows.
At the same time, however, consumer demand for EVs has slowed amid high prices, range anxiety and developing infrastructure around charging points.
Hybrids that combine battery power and internal combustion engines have remained popular in Japan, accounting for 40% of sales in 2022.
But Japanese firms’ focus on hybrids has left them in the slow lane in meeting the growing appetite for purely electric vehicles. Just 1.7% of cars sold in Japan in 2022 were electric, compared to 15% in western Europe and 5.3% in the United States.
