At least 605 whales have died in 10 years, including 538 calves
May 2013. The southern right whales that use the Golfo Nuevo and Golfo San José, protected by the Valdés Península in Argentina, as a nursery ground have suffered the largest mortality event ever recorded for the species. At least 605 right whales have died along the Argentine coast since 2003, including 538 new-born calves. One hundred and thirteen calves died in 2012 alone. The Southern Right Whale Health Monitoring Program is working with scientists worldwide to determine why the whales are dying, but as yet, a common cause remains to be found.
113 calves died in 2012
Every winter and spring, the calm bays off the Valdes Península, a World Heritage Site on the Atlantic coast of Patagonia, are filled with southern right whales which come to give birth and raise their calves. However, in recent years these remote beaches are also filled with dead whale calves. In 2008 alone, almost one hundred whales, 89 of them calves, died at Península Valdés and in surrounding areas. 2012 was a record-breaking season, with 116 whale deaths, 113 of them calves.
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