Right whale juvenile found dead off Martha's Vineyard. Group says species is 'plunging toward oblivion'

An endangered juvenile right whale was found dead in the water off Martha's Vineyard on Sunday, entangled in a rope wrapped around its tail, the National Marine Fisheries Service announced.

Marine mammal experts responded to the scene on Monday to investigate, amid snowy conditions, with near-freezing temperatures and reports of wind gusts up to 38 mph. This is the second tragedy involving one of the critically endangered right whales this month — another right whale was seriously injured in a vessel collision earlier this month.

The cause of this whale's death or its identity hasn't yet been determined, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

The female whale was found near Joseph Sylvia State Beach on Martha's Vineyard Sunday afternoon, according to NOAA and the IFAW, which responds to stranded marine mammals on Cape Cod and the south shore of Massachusetts. Edgartown Police, the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution also were participating.

"The deceased whale was found entangled," said Sarah Sharp, an animal rescue veterinarian with the IFAW. "While we don't know the cause of death yet, we know that entanglements can lead to long-term suffering and death."

The tribe and IFAW secured the whale and plan a necropsy when weather conditions improve, NOAA stated.

How many right whales are there?

The North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium puts the estimated right whale population at 356 animals.

This is the 37th death of a right whale since 2017. Since then, at least 86 right whales have been found with serious injuries. Of those, nine have died as the result of entanglement, and at least 70 have been seen seriously injured by entanglement.

Human-related deaths – in the form of fishing gear entanglements and boat strikes – are the two biggest threats to the whales, scientists say. Even one of those deaths puts the species at risk of extinction, the New England Aquarium said last week. Fewer than 70 breeding females remain in the population.

Through October last year, the aquarium had detected 32 human-caused injuries to right whales, including six entanglements with attached fishing gear, 24 entanglement injuries, and two vessel strikes. 

Calf wounded in January is still alive

Monday's death is the second right whale to be added to NOAA's list of confirmed or expected whale deaths this year.

On Jan. 10, the agency announced a recently born calf had been struck by a vessel, and was expected to die. The offspring of a whale known as Juno, the calf was gravely wounded with propeller wounds on its head and mouth.

Last Friday, NOAA said the vessel involved in the collision was estimated to be between 35 and 57 feet in length. However, the calf was still alive and being monitored, with some signs of healing, although the extent of its injuries was unknown.

Any sightings of injured or stranded whales should be reported to 877-942-5343 (877-WHALE-HELP.)

Right whale births reach 16 this winter season

Whale advocates learned Tuesday that another mom-calf pair of right whales had been seen off the Southeast coast, where the whales migrate to the winter to give birth in the warmer waters off the Florida-Georgia coasts.

That makes 16 calves this season, including the calf injured in the vessel collision. Another of the calves is believed to be dead because the calf was only seen once with its mother and subsequent aerial surveys have seen the mother without her calf.

Whale scientists say 40 to 50 whale calves are needed each year for the massive marine mammals to successfully recover.

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Expanded whale protections debated

Efforts to curtail gear entanglements and vessel strikes have been controversial and the source of bitter dispute.

A federal judge ruled in 2022 that NOAA was not complying with federal law because it had not done enough to protect the right whales from fishing gear entanglements. As the agency prepared to adopt new regulations, Maine's congressional delegation was able to win approval for a rider to federal legislation that delayed the effective date of the new rules until December 2028.

The IFAW is among the groups that have advocated for requiring on-demand or ropeless fishing gear to prevent injuries and deaths to the animals.

"We also know that entanglements must be prevented to save this species from extinction," the IFAW's Sharp stated on Monday.

Meanwhile, NOAA's plan to enact additional speed limits off the Atlantic coast has been delayed.

In a statement last week, the New England Aquarium released new research that concluded expanding the 10-knot vessel speed limit over a larger area would protect not only the right whale but other large whale species as well.

"Our study shows that we don’t need to slow vessels down in all U.S. waters, but we need to implement restrictions in larger areas that cover important whale habitats,” said the study’s lead author Jessica Redfern, associate vice president of ocean conservation science at the aquarium's Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life.

Whale advocacy groups respond

The Center for Biological Diversity is among the groups urging NOAA to do more to protect the whales.

Ben Grundy at the Center for Biological Diversity said the death was "another devastating reminder that North Atlantic right whales are plunging toward oblivion."

Two right whale tragedies this month underscore an "urgent need for continued, strong and mandatory protection to safeguard these whales from entanglements in fishing gear and ship strikes," said Kim Elmslie, campaign director at Oceana in Canada. "Each loss significantly impacts the already fragile population."