U.S. launches investigation into spate of North Atlantic right whale deaths
Fearing an existential threat to one of the largest mammals in the sea, the United States government has launched an investigation into a string of deaths of endangered North Atlantic right whales.
At least 13 of the whales have been found dead this year off Atlantic Canada and New England, an unprecedented number experts say threatens the survival of the species.
“The North Atlantic right whale is one of the most critically endangered populations of large whales in the world,” David Gouveia with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) fisheries branch said Friday.
“The population numbers are very low and recovery is very slow. It’s a significant die off.”
In response to the troubling raft of deaths, NOAA Fisheries has declared “an unusual mortality event.”
The designation triggers a sweeping investigation into the cause of the deaths, including environmental and habitat conditions, threats from commercial fishing and shipping, and other risk factors.
NOAA Fisheries officials will work with counterparts at Fisheries and Oceans Canada on sampling and data collection, analysis and recommendations for future responses.
Matthew Hardy, aquatic resources division manager with Fisheries and Oceans, said Canadian officials expect to have necropsy results finalized by the end of September.
“This is a tremendous amount of work for the six necropsies that we completed in the Gulf of St. Lawrence,” he said. “We have specialists in zooplankton, food distribution, oceanography and toxicology to help feed into our understanding of what is actually happening.”