TORONTO -- Warming waters in the Atlantic Ocean appear to be forcing North Atlantic right whales into the Gulf of St. Lawrence and could lead to their extinction by the end of the century, a new study suggests.

The study, , examined North Atlantic right whale tracking data going back to the 1980s, and found that the species suffered a significant decline in the Gulf of Maine beginning in 2010 -- around the same time that a Gulf Stream shift northward warmed the waters in the area.

The researchers suggest that the warming waters led to a reduced amount of copepods in the Gulf of Maine, which happen to be a popular food source for the whales. This reduced food then corresponded to a 32-per-cent decline in females giving birth compared to the prior decade.

Since 2015, researchers have been reporting an unusually high number of right whale sightings in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where the cooler temperatures would mean plenty of food for the whales, but increased danger from boats and fishing gear.

In 2017, U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service reported 17 dead right whale carcasses had been discovered throughout the summer, 12 of which were found in Gulf of St. Lawrence.

The researchers are calling for federal agencies in both the U.S. and Canada to 鈥渁dopt more dynamic management plans鈥� to help preserve the whales, including providing more thorough tracking of ocean conditions and whale sightings.

鈥淎s their forecasting skills improve, they will eventually be able to provide a basis for regulating shipping, fisheries closures, and gear restrictions when whales are expected to be present,鈥� the researchers wrote in the study.

鈥淔ailure to adopt such measures and significantly reduce anthropogenic mortality sources could commit the right whale population to extinction before the end of the century.鈥�

The researchers did not rule out natural climate variability for the rising temperatures in the Gulf of Maine, but note that 鈥渉igh-resolution ocean circulation models鈥� predict that the rise is in response to climate change.

There are an estimated 368 North Atlantic right whales left, including less than 100 breeding females, .

list the species as 鈥渆ndangered.鈥�