Third endangered whale snared in fishing gear spotted off East Coast in one week
A third endangered North Atlantic right whale was found tangled in fishing gear off the East Coast last Monday, just days after two others had been recovered in critical condition near Nantucket.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found a North Atlantic right whale stuck about 60 miles east of the Outer Banks of North Carolina on Dec. 16. It was critically injured and likely to die, NOAA said.
“Entanglement response teams are on alert, although current weather conditions in the area are not safe for mounting an immediate response. As future conditions permit, we will work with authorized responders and trained experts to monitor the whale,” NOAA said in a statement.
The prior two snared whales were both found on Dec. 9 just 50 miles off the Massachusetts coast. One was also seriously injured and was expected to die.
The North Carolina whale was identified as a juvenile male born in 2021. It had several fishing lines wrapped around his head and mouth, NOAA said.
Since being untangled, the whale “has not yet been seen again,” said Melanie White, North Atlantic Right Whale Conservation Project Manager and a research biologist at Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute, whose aerial survey team first spotted the whale.
The North Atlantic right whale has been on the endangered species list since 1970 following the devastation caused by the commercial whaling era. It was moved onto the critically endangered list in 2020.
The current population stands at less than 400 as the species has grown increasingly vulnerable to collisions with ships and entanglements in gear.
The North Atlantic right whales migrate along the East Coast to access Florida and Georgia, where they often give birth. They also feed off the coasts of New England and Canada. In early winter, they are typically lingering in Cape Cod Bay, where they remain through May.
The journey back and forth has only gotten more dangerous over the years as waters continue to warm and food availability fluctuates, forcing them to stray from safer parts of the ocean and inch closer to shores, scientists have said.
Right whales’ population fell about 25% from 2010 to 2020. The species has grown by about 4% since 2020, according to the New England Aquarium. Even so, conservationists have warned that they will still require greater protections to prevent total extinction.
With Post wires
