NOAA Fisheries confirmed the apparent death related to the entanglement of a North Atlantic right whale off the coast of South Carolina.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature listed the North Atlantic right whale as “critically endangered” last year, making it one of the most endangered species on the planet. Currently, the species is facing what NOAA Fisheries calls an “unusual mortality event”, which has extended from 2017 to today. In that period, with the death of the last whale, 34 whales died and 14 are considered seriously injured.
Currently, it is estimated that less than 356 of the whales survive today.
According to NOAA Fisheries, the whale – an 11-year-old male nicknamed “Cottontail” – was first identified as entangled on October 20, 2020. Since then, efforts to untangle the whale have been unsuccessful, and she was found dead on 28 February.
“Due to the animal’s poor body condition and offshore location, the teams mobilized earlier today to find the whale by boat. They collected biological samples, placed a tag on the whale to continue tracking its location and removed the ropes that held the animal, ”said NOAA Fisheries in a statement. “This animal was spotted alive by aerial research teams on Florida’s Treasury Coast, just over a week ago.”
The death adds increasing pressure from nonprofits and environmental organizations in the shipping and fishing industries to do more to prevent future whale deaths.
“These whales are expected to maneuver through a dense industrialized waterway with heavy ship traffic and around a million commercial vertical fishing lines in the water column,” said Brian Sharp, director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW ). The journey to their feeding sites, which the species has made for centuries, is becoming a journey of no return. “
Cottontail’s death, the organization said, is an example of why the vertical lines pose a threat to the species’ survival.
“Cottontail’s death is a perfect illustration of what we are trying to prevent. No species can survive these types of injuries day after day,” said IFAW Navy activist CT Harry. “We can try to disentangle and things like that, but that doesn’t solve the problem. We need collective action. We need 21st century technology to remove the threat of entanglement. We need an unwavering commitment to reverse this situation.”
In the US, a federal judge ruled that American lobster fishing is violating the threatened species law due to its lack of action to protect whales, a decision that resulted in the Marine Stewardship Council’s suspension of certification of Maine lobster fishing and in the proposal of new regulations to avoid the complete closure of it and other fisheries.
This NOAA Fisheries proposal has drawn resistance from Maine Governor Janet Mills, and discussions about potential regulations are ongoing.
Photo courtesy of NOAA Fisheries