Canadian officials monitor 3 entangled North Atlantic Right whales

By Doug Fraser
Posted Jul 6, 2019

Canadian authorities are reporting that three North Atlantic Right whales have been spotted entangled in line and fishing gear in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Since 2017, 18 right whales have died in Canadian waters. Six of those deaths occurred last month.

The right whale is one of the most endangered great whales in the world with a population of around 400 and fewer than 95 breeding females.

This week, Chris Oliver, assistant administrator of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries, sent a letter to Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Transport Canada asking for a meeting as soon as possible to work together to strengthen protections immediately.

In an email alert Friday night, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada said one right whale had a rope around its peduncle, the narrowest part of the whale’s body that joins to the flukes, and appears to be dragging something heavy. This whale was initially seen on June 29, east of New Brunswick. It has been identified as whale EG#4440. It was re-sighted on July 2, still entangled.

On Thursday, two other entangled right whales were seen, one by officials in a Transport Canada plane east of the Gaspé Peninsula, Québec. It has not yet been identified, but appeared to have rope trailing from both sides of its head down its body, the DFO reported.

The third entangled right whale was also spotted on Thursday by a researcher working east of Miscou, New Brunswick, and was identified as whale EG#4423. It was trailing a line of rope from underneath its body, according to the DFO, who believed this right whale may be one that was first sighted entangled in April in US waters.

The DFO noted that all three entangled whales were sighted in areas already closed to fishing activities.

Aerial and at-sea surveillance is underway in an effort to monitor these particular whales and get a better sense of their entanglements. The DFO said the agency was in touch contact with marine mammal partner organizations to evaluate the situation. They are considering options for attaching tracking buoys to the ropes on these whales, and whether to attempt disentanglement by a trained team.

Following 12 whale deaths in 2017 in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canadian officials last year implemented seasonal speed restrictions on large boats and bans on fixed-gear fishing, similar to what is already in place in Cape Cod Bay and other U.S. waters.

The Humane Society and 14 other national and international conservation groups sent a letter Wednesday to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Fisheries and Oceans Canada Minister Jonathan Wilkinson and Transport Canada Minister Marc Garneau urging use of “all available statutory authorities and financial resources to respond effectively to declining right whale abundance.”