27 August, 2017
Concerned about a spike suspicious of mortality among right whales in the North Atlantic, off the coast of Canada and the United States, the authorities of these two countries have opened an investigation on this species already seriously threatened, it was learnt on Friday.
While 13 whale deaths do not seem like a lot of deaths at first glance, it is worth noting that North Atlantic right whales are endangered creatures with only about 500 of them still living.
David Gouveia, protected Species Monitoring Program branch chief at NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Region, described the deaths as "significant" and said an immediate response is needed.
Getting entangled in fishing nets or colliding with ships are considered the most likely causes of the whale deaths, but experts are awaiting the results of necropsies to determine the reasons and to suggest solutions.
"The North Atlantic right whale is fragile, and one of NOAA and DFO's most hard conservation challenges", Gouveia said.
This year, 10 dead whales have been found off of Canada's coast and three off the coast of MA, prompting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to declare the deaths an "unusual mortality event" on Thursday and to launch an investigation. "Any factor that affects their ability to survive is important", has he hammered.
"A final report is likely months away as we see more of these whales move out of Canadian waters and into the USA", said Teri Rowles, NOAA's marine mammal health and stranding program co-ordinator. The effort will involve collecting data on each whale that died and considering factors such as changes to the environment and habitat, they said.
Conservationists have said the right whale population is so small that a year of poor reproduction and heavy mortality could threaten its survival.
Biologist Regina Asmutis-Silvia of Whale and Dolphin Conservation has called this year's number of deaths "unprecedented".
As such, possible prevention measures could include modifications to current fishing gear so as to prevent whale entanglement and ship speed restrictions to prevent collisions.
"The priority is to protect these whales", stated Matthew Hardy of Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
"The recovery of the (population of) right whales is fragile and it is one of the most hard challenges in the protection of animals, has-t-he said to journalists during a conference call".
Before 2017, deaths of right whales were fairly uncommon with only 3.8 deaths per year on average.
