North Atlantic right whales should live past 100 years old. They're dying around 22

North Atlantic right whales should live well past 100 years, but threats to the endangered species, including from commercial crab and lobster fishing, have cut their lifespan to a fraction of that, a recent study suggests.

North Atlantic right whales should live well past 100 years, but threats to the endangered species, including from commercial crab and lobster fishing, have cut their lifespan to a fraction of that, a recent study suggests.

Published in the journal "Science Advances," the study focused on southern right whales, which aren't endangered and can live up to 130 years. However, as southern and northern right whales are closely related, lead author Greg Breed said the study "confirmed the sad state of affairs" of the whales that travel up to Canada to feed

"I wasn't, unfortunately, at all surprised, because we've known this species has been gravely endangered for some time," Breed, a biology professor at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, said in a recent interview.

On average, North Atlantic right whales live 22 years, a reduced lifespan Breed attributes to ship strikes, entanglements with fishing gear, and climate change. The historical whale hunt, he added, has compounded the North Atlantic right whale's troubles, leaving the population with almost no older whales -- and little inherited wisdom for the younger generation, such as how to navigate the ocean to find food as the climate changes.

"This is a big deal. This is a really big problem."

North Atlantic right whales were subject to "Yankee whaling," which ended around 1910, he said.Given the animals' slow rate of reproduction, the small number of whales that weren't hunted were mostly younger. Females begin to give birth when they are 10-12 years old, and reproduce once every three to five years.

"They produce calves quite infrequently .... And North Atlantic right whales are just being hammered by all these man-made threats, particularly entanglement with fishing gear."