A North Atlantic right whale recently found dead off the coast of Georgia died after being hit by a boat, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration announced Friday.
The yearling seen alive with her mother, “Pilgrim” (No. 4340), in Cape Cod Bay in April 2023. New England Aquarium/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, taken under NOAA permit #21371
This is the second known right whale to die from a vessel strike in the last six weeks.
The whale, a 1-year-old female first sighted off the coast of Florida in December 2022, showed evidence of blunt force trauma including fractures to the skull.
“This latest right whale death is drawing more attention to the urgent need for implementing stronger measures to protect these animals from vessel strikes,” said Dr. Jessica Redfern, Associate Vice President of Ocean Conservation Science in the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium in a press release.
The endangered North Atlantic right whale population has been dwindling for decades. There are only 360 of the mammals left, according to data from the NOAA. And fewer than 70 are breeding females.
On Wednesday, NOAA announced that a female right whale calf found dead on Jan. 28 on the eastern shore of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts had been injured by gear with markings distinct to Maine lobstering operations. The specific lobsterman is unknown, however, because the recovered gear didn’t include the buoy with the ID tag.
The federal agency says vessel strikes and entanglements from fishing gear are to blame for the species’ decline. Vessel strikes and fishing-gear entanglements have caused 78% of the 123 incidents that have killed or seriously injured right whales since 2017, according to NOAA’s right whale tracker last updated on Wednesday.
NOAA is considering modifying the existing federal vessel speed rules to better protect the whales.
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