No calves were born this winter to critically endangered North Atlantic right whales

A North Atlantic right whale.
(Image credit: AP Photo/Stephan Savoia, File)

Trained spotters have been unable to find any mother-and-calf pairs of right whales off the coasts of Georgia and Florida this calving season, causing researchers to worry even more about the critically endangered species.

"It's a pivotal moment for right whales," Barb Zoodsma, head of the right whale recovery program in the U.S. Southeast for the National Marine Fisheries Service, told The Associated Press. "If we don't get serious and figure this out, it very well could be the beginning of the end." The spotters, who look for whales from the air, will stop surveying for the winter on Saturday; Zoodsma said if there are no last-minute sightings, as expected, this will be the first time zero births were recorded since survey flights started in 1989.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.