They might be rare, but some lucky folks do see them, like this whale in California in 2017. And the more people keeping their eyes out for them, the better!

Recovering North Pacific right whales is not an easy task; their large size prevents hands-on approaches that have been successful with other endangered species. The most important things we can do are identify causes of death and stress throughout their habitat and then reduce those threats. But this is the challenge. North Pacific right whales are so rare that we don’t even know the extent of their range or how they use their habitat. Basic life history facts like where North Pacific right whales go to breed or have their babies are missing from our knowledge of these whales. The first steps toward recovery are based around research and learning more about them.  

 

Saving a species of whale with such a small population is likely a century-long task. But other populations of whales have recovered from very small numbers. Gray whale populations in the Pacific have increased since they became protected in 1935. Unfortunately, grey whales are also a model of what can go wrong. Atlantic grey whales were hunted to extinction in the 18th century.