North Atlantic Right Whales now critically endangered

North Atlantic Right Whales have just been moved from the Endangered List ... to the Critically Endangered List.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature, which looks after these lists, made the move after the population of these whales has been reduced to just over 400 (409 at the last count). In the whole world. The next list they are headed towards is "Extinct".
Right whales were severely hunted, almost to extinction, in the 19th and 20th centuries, before making a bit of a come-back as a result of hunting bans in the 1970s. But recently their numbers have been dwindling again, critically so.
It is estimated that the current population needs to breed an average of 17 calves a year in order to grow, considered a tall order given their declining birth rates in recent years, and scientists believe they could be "functionally extinct" within 20 years. In the meantime, the animals continue to die - 31 in the last three years - mainly as a result of crashes with shipping and entanglement in fishing lines and nets. It has become worse as climate change pushes them further north into the busy St. Lawrence channel.