North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium Annual Meeting

Posted on November 3, 2023

The Marine Species Monitoring Program was recently represented at the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium (NARWC) Annual Meeting in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada by the Atlantic program managers and several research team members from HDR. With only about 350 individuals remaining, this population is critically endangered. The NARWC was started in 1986 as a collaborative data sharing group and has grown to include more than 200 individuals from various research and conservation organizations, shipping and fishing industries, technical experts, U.S. and Canadian government agencies, and state and provincial authorities, all of whom are dedicated to the conservation and recovery of the North Atlantic right whale. The annual meeting serves as a venue for all stakeholders and interested citizens to come together to share new research, and discuss the status, threats, and conservation of this species.

The Marine Species Monitoring Program has been increasing investments for NARW monitoring, conservation, and protection in recent years with a focus on the historically under-studied but very important mid-Atlantic region.  This year we contributed two poster presentations and a pre-recorded video "speed talk" at the consortium meeting, and had the opportunity to interact with a variety of stakeholders about our work. We're excited for the southbound migration to begin so we can continue contributing to NARW conservation and protection.