May 21, 2024 — In a recent update, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries have issued a warning.
The organization states that the endangered North Atlantic right whales are approaching extinction. An Unusual Mortality Event was declared for North Atlantic right whales in 2017, and currently includes 139 individuals (40 dead, 34 seriously injured, and 65 sub lethally injured or ill). The primary causes of the UME, according to the NOAA are entanglements in fishing gear and vessel strikes in both U.S. and Canadian waters, which are long-standing threats to the recovery of the species.
In the same warning, the NOAA issued an update believing that a right whale off the coast of Massachusetts is dead.