SAVANNAH, Ga. — The carcass of a North Atlantic right whale found floating off the coast of Georgia marks the second known death in the past month for the critically endangered whale species.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the dead whale off Tybee Island east of Savannah had been identified as a female born last year. The carcass was heavily scavenged by sharks before the Georgia Department of Natural Resources towed it to shore Thursday, agency spokesman Tyler Jones said. Scientists still hoped that a necropsy could provide clues to how the animal died.
“It will be challenging to determine the cause of death because it is so heavily predated and decomposed,” Jones said.
The discovery came after another young female whale was reported dead off Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, on January 28. During necropsy, a rope was found in his tail. NOAA said it was consistent with a type of rope used in commercial fishing gear.
Female whales migrate to the warmer waters of the Atlantic Ocean off the southeastern U.S. during the winter to give birth. Because they swim close to the surface, the rare whales are vulnerable to collisions with ships and entanglement in fishing gear.
Scientists estimate that the North Atlantic right whale population has declined to fewer than 360. NOAA says a period of increased whale fatalities and injuries has been underway since 2017. The two deaths recorded since January bring the total for this period to 38 fatalities.
The whales’ population fell by about 25% between 2010 and 2020, and conservation groups have called for stricter laws on ship speeds and commercial fishing in an effort to save them from extinction.
“The deaths of two young North Atlantic right whales within three weeks of each other are heartbreaking and preventable,” Kathleen Collins, senior campaigns manager for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, said in a statement Thursday. “The whale cemetery off our east coast continues to grow and government inaction is digging the graves.”
A coalition of environmental groups filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday in an effort to force the U.S. government to finalize rules that would expand zones off the East Coast where ships must slow down to protect the whales. The new rules also require a wider range of ships to comply with the rules.
Some industries have resisted stricter laws. Last year, a federal appeals court sided with commercial fishermen who harvest lobsters and crabs, saying proposed restrictions aimed at saving whales could put them out of business.
Whales were once plentiful off the East Coast, but during the era of commercial fishing they were decimated and slowly recovered. They have been protected under the Endangered Species Act for decades.