Endangered right whales are facing extinction unless something is done right away to protect them from further harm, according to alarming new reports. North Atlantic right whales are already one of the rarest marine mammals on the entire planet, with only about 450 of them estimated to be left.

Officials are raising the alarm now because just this year, 17 of those whales have died, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Without quick action, the dwindling right whale population may never recover as the species continues to face reproduction issues with only about 100 breeding females left among the species.

“You do have to use the extinction word, because that’s where the trend lines say they are,” John Bullard, the Northeast Regional Administrator for NOAA Fisheries, said according to an ABC News report. “That’s something we can’t let happen.”