Gib Brogan, the campaign director associated with the Oceana conservation group, reiterated the requirement for action, calling for Maine to take on the responsibility and deploy measures to stop entanglements. For over half of the short life, the young whale reportedly suffered from a rope that got embedded in the tail, resulting in a needless and slow death because the government was not able to enact adequate protection to prevent the entanglements, mentioned Brogan.

Per Dr. Francine Kershaw, associated with the National Resources Defense Council, the North Atlantic right whales in the Maine waters navigate approximately 400,000 vertical buoy lines marking the lobster and the crab traps. Despite this, the Maine lobster industry continues to deny the responsibility for whale entanglements, with a few entanglements traced back to the Maine fisheries owing to a lack of gear-marking needs in 70% of Maine’s waters.

Dr. Kershaw also believes that the ropeless fishing systems can aid in eliminating entanglements. With the new information on the origin of the rope entangling #5120 coming to light, they also hope that the Maine lobster fishery will begin participating in reasonable faith efforts for advancing the commercial use of ropeless fishing gears, she said.

A thorough investigation led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated the NOAA) Fisheries has reportedly confirmed that a rope was recovered from a dead female North Atlantic right whale. It is consistent with the gear used in Maine’s trap or pot buoy lines. This whale has been identified as #5120.

It was found off the Martha Vineyard in late Jan 2024. The young right whale was born back in 2021 during the calving season, and it was the only-known calf of Squilla (a right whale #3720). She was the first to be found entangled in fishing gear off New Brunswick in August 2022, and despite disentanglement attempts, the whale’s condition had deteriorated by the time she had last been seen in June 2023.

Necropsy results are still awaited, and the NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement is proceeding with the investigation. The death further marks the 37th death as an Unusual Mortality Event was declared for the North Atlantic right whales back in 2017. The deaths have also raised concerns as the North Atlantic right whales are close to extinction, with less than 360 individuals remaining, of which below 70 are reproductively active females.

Reference: NRDC

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