Two more right whale deaths confirmed

By Beth Treffeisen
Posted Jul 18, 2019

Two more right whale deaths were confirmed in eastern Canada on Friday, bringing the total amount of right whale deaths this year in Canadian waters to eight.

The Marine Animal Response Society, a charitable organization dedicated to marine animal conservation in the Canadian Maritime Provinces, posted about the deaths on Facebook Friday afternoon.

One male whale was spotted floating Thursday off the Gaspé Peninsula by an aerial survey team, the post said. The whale is being towed ashore by Fisheries and Oceans Canada for a necropsy this weekend by the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative in Quebec.

The society also confirmed the death of a whale initially reported to be floating off Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, at the end of June, the post said. At the time, there were no images and the whale could not be located.

Images from a mariner were recently provided to the organization. With the assistance of the New England Aquarium, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Grand Manan Whale & Seabird Research Station, it was confirmed to be a right whale, the post said.

The whale has not been sighted since the initial report, the post said.

Three whales also have been found entangled but swimming this year, the society said in its post.

Only about 400 North Atlantic right whales are left in the world and the deaths are outpacing births, the organization posted.