A female North Atlantic right whale was found dead ashore a remote barrier island off Virginia’s Eastern Shore earlier this week.
Biologists with The Nature Conservancy found the 3-year-old critically endangered whale stranded on the beach Feb. 10. She has been identified as the calf of “Porica.” Porica is known to have had two other calves to die.
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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, Fisheries is working with the Marine Mammal Stranding Network to try and determine the cause of death.
She is the second North Atlantic right whale to have been found dead since the New Year.
Less than two weeks ago, the carcass of a 4-year-old male named “Division” was found floating about 25 miles off the coast of Avon.
He died as a result of injuries he received from being entangled in fishing gear, according to NOAA.
Vessel strikes and fishing gear entanglement are the two leading causes of death to North Atlantic right whales, of which there are fewer than 400 on the planet. There are only around 70 breeding females.
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“This is an endless tug of war between hope and despair for North Atlantic right whales, and today, despair is winning,” Nora Ives, a marine scientist with Oceana, stated in a release. “Another whale is gone, a young female that could have helped contribute to the future of a population already on the brink of extinction. We can and we must do better. Stronger protections and proven solutions are needed, but both depend on adequate funding and staffing at NOAA. They also require full implementation of bedrock laws like the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act that help secure a future for these creatures. It’s time for U.S. leaders to fight for the future North Atlantic right whales deserve.”
This is the 43rd recorded North Atlantic right whale death since 2017, the year an unusual mortality event was declared after elevated deaths in the species were documented in Canada and the United States.
