Environment

A second right whale found dead off East Coast suffered a vessel strike, NOAA says

A leading researcher studying vessel strike impacts on whales called the back-to-back deaths “nothing short of devastating.”

This photo provided by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources shows a DNR boat crew assessing a dead juvenile right whale about 20 miles off Tybee Island, Ga., Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024. Georgia Department of Natural Resources via AP

By Morgan Rousseau

February 17, 2024

2 minutes to read

A 1-year-old North Atlantic right whale was found dead Tuesday, marking the second death of a young female right whale in the past month, the New England Aquarium announced.

The right whale was killed due to a vessel strike and was discovered “heavily scavenged by sharks” off the Savannah, Georgia coast. Crews towed the whale to shore, and scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) performed a necropsy to determine its cause of death. The necropsy revealed evidence of blunt force trauma, including fractures of the skull, consistent with a vessel strike.

The yearling was first sighted off Florida in December 2022 but was known to travel in Massachusetts waters. She was photographed as a calf with her mother, “Pilgrim,” in Cape Cod Bay in April 2023. The aquarium said the whale was seen “alive and healthy” just two weeks ago.

Here the deceased whale is pictured with her mother in Cape Cod Bay last spring. *(New England Aquarium/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)*

It’s the second loss of a right whale, which is a critically endangered species, in just one month. On Jan. 28, the body of a 3-year-old female right whale washed up on the shore of Martha’s Vineyard.

A fishing rope was deeply embedded in the whale’s tail after she became entangled in 2022. According to the NOAA, preliminary necropsy results of that whale showed chronic entanglement of a fishing rope originating from Maine waters.

This latest incident is the second known right whale to be struck by a vessel in the last six weeks. In early January, a newborn calf off the South Carolina coast was discovered with severe propeller wounds on its head, mouth, and left lip.

Researchers say North Atlantic right whales have suffered a steady population decline since 2011. Vessel strikes and fishing line entanglement are the two leading causes of serious injury and death to the species.

“This latest right whale death is drawing more attention to the urgent need for implementing stronger measures to protect these animals from vessel strikes. Documenting two right whale vessel strikes in just the last month is nothing short of devastating for this critically endangered species,” said Dr. Jessica Redfern, Associate Vice President of Ocean Conservation Science at the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium.

Redfern, who has studied vessel strike impacts on whale species for more than a decade, has published research showing the need for vessel speed restrictions and ropeless fishing gear to prevent the extinction of large whales.

In July, the NOAA proposed changes to the federal vessel speed rule, including expanding the areas it covers, increasing seasonal speed restrictions, extending restrictions to include vessels measuring 35 to 65 feet, and placing speed restrictions where whales are regularly spotted. Those proposed changes have not been finalized.

“Scientific research shows NOAA’s revisions to the vessel speed rule will help protect right whales from vessel strikes. Finalizing this rule and expediting the broad adoption of on-demand (ropeless) fishing gear are urgently needed to prevent the extinction of this species,” said Redfern.