Updated Dec. 23
Several entangled North Atlantic right whales were spotted recently, and researchers believe two of them are likely to die from their injuries.
Two entangled North Atlantic right whales were recently spotted some 50 miles off Nantucket.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released a statement on Tuesday that the two whales were spotted around 50 miles southeast of Nantucket on Dec. 9, during an aerial survey.
NOAA has yet to try and free the whales, noting the time of day and the distance from shore, but officials said that they will work with authorized responders and trained experts to monitor the two right whales.
“We will further document the entanglements, and determine if entanglement response will be possible,” the post reads.
Charles (“Stormy”) Mayo, scientist emeritus and former director of the Center for Coastal Studies’ right whale ecology program, said the efforts in the coming months will be focused on trying to relocate the two entangled whales, usually by aircraft.
If the right whales are found near land, which is rare, Mayo said a disentanglement team can be dispatched. He said the reason a team cannot help whales far out at sea is because of a mixture of wintertime weather — big waves and heavier winds — and a limited amount of daytime light, which the team needs to help struggling whales. “A lot of that depends on luck,” Mayo said.
The first whale was identified as the juvenile male No. 5110, which was first seen as a calf in 2021. He was recently spotted without gear in Cape Cod Bay in April. But the agency’s biologists have made a preliminary determination that the whale was seriously injured, and will likely die from his injury.
“This whale has a thick line that passes once across his head and once across his back,” NOAA’s post reads.
The second whale identified was the adult female No. 4120, which was first seen as a calf in 2011. She was most recently seen without gear 50 miles off the coast of Long Island, N.Y., in July.
“This whale has two lines exiting the left side of her mouth, and both lines extending a half to two-thirds of the way down the body,” an online post from NOAA reads. Agency biologists have preliminarily determined that she had a sublethal injury, meaning while the injury may not kill a whale, it can impede growth or reproduction.
A third entangled whale was spotted on Dec. 16 roughly 60 miles off the Outer Banks of North Carolina during an aerial survey by the Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute. NOAA said in a statement on Dec. 20 that the juvenile right whale No. 5132 “has several lines crossing over and wrapping his head and mouth. Two buoys are attached to the line. There is also a single line trailing from the whale, which extends approximately 100 feet behind the flukes.” The agency has also preliminarily deemed the whale to likely die as a result of its injuries.
Mayo said the loss of any right whale is a “substantial problem” for the critically endangered species.
There are around 372 right whales remaining, and while this is an uptick in the population, Mayo said there were still too few individuals to be heartened by the small increases. And although every whale counts for the species’ survival, Mayo said females are more valuable as the “bearers of the future.”
A spike in right whales being found dead, injured, or with other health-compromising conditions led NOAA to declare an ongoing “unusual mortality event” in 2017. The most recent entanglements push the number of documented whales that were injured or died since 2017 to 151. Researchers say only about a third of right whale deaths are recorded.
NOAA states the primary cause of the ongoing phenomenon as entanglements in fishing gear and vessel strikes, in both U.S. and Canadian waters.
“And the future is pretty grim,” Mayo said. “There are far too few whales for the population to endure further mortalities.”
Some conservationists, like the ocean conservation organization Oceana, were quick to criticize NOAA for being slow in implementing further protections for right whales that prevent “gruesome” entanglements, while allowing fisheries to operate in a “truly sustainable way.”
“NOAA’s 2029 plans for new protections from entanglements should include robust alternatives to remove vertical rope from the water in times and places [where] whales are expected and detected, and allow the use of ropeless gear in areas closed to traditional gear, so that both whales and fishers can thrive. The real question is, Will new protections be implemented before it’s too late?” Gib Brogan, Oceana’s U.S. campaign director, said in a statement.
NOAA’s North Atlantic right whale updates page shows the last time the agency spotted an entangled right whale was in September. A female right whale named Chiminea, No. 4040, was spotted north of the Gaspé Peninsula in Canada with two buoys near her right lip, and a “line exiting the left side of her mouth, trailing behind her flukes, and sinking into the water column.”
On Martha’s Vineyard, a dead female juvenile washed ashore onto Cow Bay in Edgartown in January. NOAA determined the right whale had died from “chronic entanglement” sustained from a Maine rope consistent with those used in the state for water trap and pot buoy lines. She was first spotted entangled in 2022 in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Canada.
Mariners who spot entangled, injured, or dead whales are encouraged to report the sightings to the following:
- Greater Atlantic Marine Mammal Stranding Hotline, for Maine to Virginia, at 866-755-6622.
- Southeast Marine Mammal Stranding Hotline, for North Carolina to Texas, at 877-942-5343.
- U.S. Coast Guard at VHF Channel 16.
NOAA also asks reporting mariners, if it is safe to do so, to take photos or videos from the legally required 500-yard distance from the animal. Mariners are also asked to note the GPS coordinates to share with authorized responders.
Updated with additional information from NOAA and Charles (“Stormy”) Mayo on Dec. 20. An additional update was made with information regarding the third entangled right whale.
