Deadly vessel strike caps 'challenging few weeks' for critically endangered right whales, aquarium says
BOSTON - The New England Aquarium says it's been "a challenging few weeks for right whales" following the death of a 20-year-old male from a vessel strike.
The remains of whale #3343 washed up on Virginia Beach Sunday. NOAA has confirmed that the whale suffered "catastrophic blunt force trauma" and likely died quickly, the aquarium said.
In addition to the death, four whales have become newly entangled since 2023, according to the aquarium. There are fewer than 350 North Atlantic right whales left, scientists believe.
"While important steps have been made to protect these whales in both the U.S. and Canada, the whales themselves are showing us through these entanglements and this death that clearly more needs to be done," aquarium senior scientist Philip Hamilton said in a statement.
The whales have been spotted in their calving grounds as far north as Massachusetts recently. An aerial team from the aquarium observed more than 20 right whales south of Nantucket earlier this week, and dozens have been seen in Cape Cod Bay since the start of the new year.
