North Atlantic right whale Catalog #1950, photographed in 2006. Photo credit: New England Aquarium, taken under DFO Canada SARA permit
BOSTON – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has announced that a necropsy concluded on Tuesday with assistance from the Virginia Aquarium and the International Fund for Animal Welfare found that the North Atlantic Right Whale discovered dead in the waters off of Virginia’s coast during the past week was killed by a vessel strike.
Catalog #1950, whose spine was completely dislocated from the collision, is the fourth right whale to die in 2024, and the third to be killed by a vessel strike, leaving behind a calf who experts say is not likely to survive without its mother.
The incident comes amid renewed calls for modification of the existing vessel speed rule by NOAA, with proposed changes including an expansion in the time and space of seasonal speed zones, and increased restrictions to include most vessels measuring 35 to 65 feet in length.
Experts say that unless these restrictions are put into law, the long-term prognosis for North Atlantic right whales is bleak.
“The death of a right whale mother, and the expected death of her young calf, is another tremendous loss for a species that is heading toward extinction,” said Philip Hamilton, senior scientist in the New England Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life.
“The high level of right whale mortality from human activities, especially females, is greatly reducing the chances for the recovery of this critically endangered species.”
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