Wildlife

USA Investigates Right Whale Deaths

Fearing an existential threat to one of the largest mammals in the sea, the United States government has launched an investigation into a string of deaths of endangered North Atlantic right whales.

At least 13 of the whales have been found dead this year off Atlantic Canada and New England, an unprecedented number experts say threatens the survival of the species.

“The North Atlantic right whale is one of the most critically endangered populations of large whales in the world,” David Gouveia with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s fisheries branch said Friday. “The population numbers are very low and recovery is very slow. It’s a significant die off.”

In response to the troubling raft of deaths, NOAA Fisheries has declared “an unusual mortality event.”

The designation triggers a sweeping investigation into the cause of the deaths, including environmental and habitat conditions, threats from commercial fishing and shipping and other risk factors.

The U.S. Coast Guards find a young right whale in Cape Cod Bay.