Why is 海角大神 Science in our name?
Our name is about honesty. The Monitor is owned by The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and we鈥檝e always been transparent about that.
The church publishes the Monitor because it sees good journalism as vital to progress in the world. Since 1908, we鈥檝e aimed 鈥渢o injure no man, but to bless all mankind,鈥� as our founder, Mary Baker Eddy, put it.
Here, you鈥檒l find award-winning journalism not driven by commercial influences 鈥� a news organization that takes seriously its mission to uplift the world by seeking solutions and finding reasons for credible hope.
Explore values journalism About us
Right whale baby boom: Glimmer of hope for an endangered species
David Clark Scott
A new mother arrived in my neighborhood recently, creating a buzz.
Millipede and her 3-month-old baby right whale swam into Cape Cod Bay earlier this month. Her calf was born off the coast of Florida in December, and when spotted off Massachusetts her offspring 鈥渁ppeared to be quite ,鈥� said Center for Coastal Studies (CCS) researcher Brigid McKenna.
The mom and calf are part of a baby boom. The endangered North Atlantic right whale population is having its best calving season since 2012. So far, 18 newborn whales have been spotted. Only a total of 22 were born over the previous four years.
That鈥檚 significant because there are about 356 North Atlantic right whales left on this planet, and perhaps 100 are females. In the last century, the species was nearly hunted to extinction. Today, the most frequent cause of death is collisions with ships or getting tangled in fishing nets. Already, one of the 18 newborns has died after being struck by a sport fishing boat off Florida. Last week, a CCS Provincetown team managed to from a 16-year-old female in Cape Cod Bay.
Millipede ( on her flank by a propeller) and her calf are 鈥渢he hope for the future鈥� of this species, said Dr. Charles Mayo of CCS. And by making the 1,200-mile journey from Florida, dodging ships and fishing nets, the pair have already shown a promising instinct for survival and resilience.
