North Atlantic right whale found dead off Virginia coast, New England Aquarium researchers say
The whale, which researchers had previously identified and catalogued, was discovered around 50 miles off the Virginia Coast, the aquarium said in a press release Tuesday. A North Atlantic right whale, Catalogue #1950, was found dead off the Virginia coast Saturday, marking the fourth death this year for the species. The whale was identified and catalogued by researchers at the New England Aquarium and was at least 35 years old. The cause of her death was not immediately clear, but scientists from the University of North Carolina Wilmington will lead a necropsy exam on the whale's carcass. The species has been listed as endangered since 1970 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries. There are estimated to be 360 right whales remaining, with fewer than 70 females able to reproduce.
Publicerad : 2 månader sedan förbi Daniel Kool i Science General
Saturday marked the fourth death of a North Atlantic right whale this year, in addition to the disappearances of three calves, according to the release.
The whale, which researchers had previously identified and catalogued, was discovered around 50 miles off the Virginia Coast, the aquarium said in a press release Tuesday. The whale, known as Catalogue #1950, was at least 35 years old and was last spotted in February near Amelia Island in Florida.
A North Atlantic right whale, who recently gave birth to her sixth calf, was found dead off the coast of Virginia Saturday, according to the New England Aquarium.
Researchers at the New England Aquarium first spotted #1950 in the Roseway Basin in September 1989, according to the catalogue. An aerial survey team in Georgia first spotted her with a new calf in January, according to the release.
“The calf, which aerial survey teams have been unable to locate, is not expected to survive without its mother,” the aquarium said in the release.
Catalogue #1985 escaped three entanglements during her lifetime, according to the aquarium. The cause of her death was not clear Tuesday, but scientists at the University of North Carolina Wilmington will lead a necropsy exam on the whale’s carcass.
Philip Hamilton, senior scientist in the Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center, said in the release that if “she can avoid the double threats of vessel strikes and entanglements, a female right whale can calve throughout her long life, producing ten or more calves.
With the loss of Catalog #1950, her female lineage now rests with her three daughters, none of which have calved yet,” Hamilton said.
The species has been listed as endangered since 1970, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries. There are estimated to be 360 right whales remaining, including fewer than 70 females able to reproduce.
The whales frequently risk getting tangled in fishing nets and lines or being struck by vessels, according to NOAA Fisheries. The agency estimates that more than 85 percent of right whales have been entangled at least once.
Daniel Kool can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @dekool01.
Ämnen: Crime, Data