Young North Atlantic right whale spotted entangled in Gulf of St. Lawrence
Scientist says year so far has been a bad one for right whales
An entangled North Atlantic right whale has been spotted in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Fisheries and Oceans Canada says.
The whale, which was spotted east of Miscou Island last week, has a wrap of rope around her body and right flipper, said Amy Knowlton, senior scientist at the New England Aquarium Anderson Cabot Centre for Ocean Life.
Knowlton said this information came from images and from members of the centre's team who were out on the boat that spotted the whale.
"It's a life-threatening entanglement," she said.
The young whale is not the first to be found entangled lately. Knowlton said other teams have sighted two additional entangled whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence this season.
Knowlton said that because the whales can swim long distances, it isn't clear where they are picking up the gear. It could be anywhere in the United States or Canada.
A vessel survey team, which included the Canadian Whale Institute and the Campobello Whale Rescue Team, spotted the tangled young whale on June 22, according to Brett Gilchrist, director of national programs for fisheries resource management at Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
The whale was then re-sighted by a DFO and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration joint survey flight, according to a DFO news release.
Gilchrist said a tracking tag was attached to the fishing gear entangling the whale, which "can be dangerous work." That allows the Marine Mammal Response partners to track the movement of the whale, which can travel great distances, even while under stress, he said.
Then the disentanglement process begins, which Gilchrist said can only be done by a handful of experts in Canada.
"They work with Fisheries and Oceans to relocate the whale and to get out on the water and actually try to remove fishing gear — when it can be done safely," he said.
"It can include removing parts of the gear ... or just simply monitoring the whale with the support of the department, either aerially or by vessel, just for general safety issues."
As of Tuesday, he said the response team was out on the water and had located the whale, with the disentanglement operation underway. He said it isn't uncommon for multiple attempts at removal to be needed.
The whale is believed to be the 2023 calf of the whale known by the aquarium as No. 1812. Knowlton said the younger whale was last seen off the southeast coast of the United States with no entanglements.
But based on her condition, Knowlton said, she has likely been entangled for some time. Smaller whales such as this one, she said, often have a harder time breaking free.
And since this whale isn't fully grown, there is always the concern that she could grow into the gear, which would make it even more constricting.
"We've had cases where the rope can become embedded into the flipper, and eventually they'll succumb to that," she said.
Knowlton said the last estimate shows around 360 North Atlantic right whales are left, including 68 breeding females. She said to lose another female that, if healthy, could have become reproductive, would be another the species can't afford.
Gilchrist said Canada is currently developing a whale-safe gear strategy. Drafts of it will be shared with stakeholders in the coming weeks and months, he said, with the finalized strategy to be released in 2025.
He said it will identify options such as rope-on-demand systems — which eliminate the vertical line between the buoy and gear — or smart buoys that allow the buoy to be tracked when the gear moves.
Overall, Knowlton said it has not been a good year for right whales.
Earlier in the year, three whales were lost to vessel strikes, one female died from a chronic entanglement, and some calves have died as well.
"There's a tremendous effort on both countries and by all industries trying to help address this threat," she said.
"Sometimes, I feel some optimism that we are going to improve, and things are going to get better for the species, but then you have a situation like this year so far, [and] it's sometimes hard to remain optimistic."
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