A record-breaking season is drawing to a close as North Atlantic right whales head north for the summer. Research survey results indicate that the number of right whales spending the winter in the South again increased this year, a hopeful sign for these endangered marine giants. Each winter, pregnant right whales travel to waters offshore of Georgia and Florida to give birth and in the spring, they make their way back north to waters off New England and Canada, where they spend the summer months feeding on plankton. This winter, almost 200 were sighted off the Georgia coast, up from 150 in 2008. The total includes 39 sets of mother and calf pairs, breaking the previous record of 31 calves set in 2001. The rest of the whales were juveniles and non-breeding adults.

However, this season also set another record with five right whales being documented entangled in commercial fishing gear. Four of the five young whales were freed and in some instances, more than 500 feet of line had been dragged more than a thousand miles, resulting in potentially life-threatening injuries to the animals.

Entanglement in commercial fishing rope is a leading cause of right whale mortality - more than 70 percent of the population has scars from entanglements. Ship strikes are also another leading cause of right whale deaths. Although the increases in sightings is positive, the road to recovery for North Atlantic right whales remains long. While the number of calves has risen, the number of breeding females has not. Only one in four calves on average will live to become a mature breeding female. Decimated by commercial whaling in the 19th century, approximately 400 North Atlantic right whales remain.