January 31, 2024 — A piece of rope removed from a dead female North Atlantic right whale on Jan. 28 is undergoing analysis as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other experts work to determine a cause of death.
The dead whale, presumed to be a juvenile by its size, was reported Sunday afternoon near Joseph Sylvia State Beach on Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. NOAA Fisheries and the International Fund for Animal Welfare worked to respond to the stranding with Edgartown Police, the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.
Massachusetts state law enforcement officers collected a piece of rope that was found entangled around and embedded in the whale’s tail, turning it over to NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement, according to a statement from the agency. “Authorized members of the National Marine Mammal Stranding Response Network are planning to perform a necropsy (an animal autopsy) to investigate the cause of death as logistics allow,” according to NOAA.