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Good afternoon, and welcome to Globe Climate, a newsletter about climate change, environment and resources in Canada.

Oops! Sorry that you got last week’s newsletter before this. Let’s start fresh.

We’ve got a guest writer today – Jenn Thornhill Verma is our whale expert of sorts, and she shares some good news in our deep dive section.

PS: You may notice things are looking a little different in here. I’ll be experimenting with some new formats in the newsletter over the next few weeks. Please send your thoughts if you have any!

Now, let’s catch you up on other news.

1. Essay: How a failed voyage through the Northwest Passage aboard a century-old tall ship serves as a reminder that there is still much to learn from the Arctic and its Indigenous Peoples
2. Artificial intelligence: B.C. proposes industrial electricity rules putting resource development before AI, data centres
3. Wildfires: Jasper wildfire became uncontainable minutes after it started, federal report says
4. Land: Observers anticipate lengthy legal process after B.C. Aboriginal land title decision
5. Animals: Ontario urges Ottawa to revisit decision blocking Marineland’s export of beluga whales to China
6. Energy: Coal company to receive $95-million in settlement with Alberta over policy flip-flop

Jenn Thornhill Verma is a Pulitzer Ocean Reporting Network fellow for The Globe. For this week’s deeper dive, she talks about Entangled, The Globe’s series looking at Canada-U.S. measures to protect North Atlantic right whales.

At just two years old, the female North Atlantic right whale known as Athena (#5312) already carries scars from being entangled in fishing gear – visual reminders of the threats this species faces because it shares waterways with humans.

Athena is one of 18 right whales whose new names are being released today by the New England Aquarium and Whale and Dolphin Conservation. She is named for the Greek goddess of war. Her mother (#1812) is aptly named War.

The annual naming practice offers a rare opportunity to celebrate good news for a species that too often makes headlines for tragic reasons, such as the latest entanglement or vessel strike (the main causes of right whale death).

This year, it builds on a positive update released last week: The critically endangered population reached 384 animals in 2024, marking the fourth consecutive year of growth.

Each newly named whale tells a story of resilience. Among them is the approximately 51-year-old Hedgehog (#1307), who has one of the longest sighting histories of any living right whale. His 38-year-old daughter Pencil (#1706) was also named this year.

There’s also Camel (#2520), who is roughly 31 years old and named for her spine deformity (which hasn’t stopped her from giving birth to five calves). And 16-year-olds Taffy (#3903) and Spectre (#3915 ), young females who could soon join the reproductive ranks – critical for a species whose future rests on 72 breeding females.

All identified right whales receive a catalogue number, but researchers name only living ones, to help with field identification. Of the 833 right whales ever cataloged, about 50 per cent have names. Among the current population of 384, roughly 60 per cent are named.

For Amy Warren, who co-ordinates the naming effort at the New England Aquarium, the custom is an opportunity to think about the more positive news concerning the whales and ocean research.

“We don’t get many chances to keep stories really fun and lighthearted,” she said.

If you’d like to learn more about right whales and the problems they face, The Globe’s Entangled series highlights solutions, such as removing entangling fishing lines, rerouting or slowing down vessels and protecting the whales where they are as climate change alters their food supply.

— Jenn

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