A sprawling international study of humpback whales in the northern Pacific has found their population has shrunk significantly since 2012 — despite the once-endangered species’ remarkable comeback from the brink of extinction.
The new research, published in Royal Society Open Science journal on Wednesday, estimated a roughly 20 per cent drop in the cetacean species’ numbers over a decade.
But despite that, one of the study’s nearly 75 listed authors said the findings are not yet cause for alarm.
Thomas Doniol-Valcroze is head of the cetacean research program for Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s Pacific Biological Station.
“It’s not catastrophic news just yet,” he told CBC’s
