36 Sick and Injured Whales Added to Ongoing Mortality Event Mostly Due to Vessel Strikes and Fishing Gear Entanglements

Three dozen cases of significantly injured and ill whales were added to a review by The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries (NOAA) division regarding an ongoing unusual mortality event.

Source: Global News/YouTube

A new scientific peer-reviewed protocol added 36 whales to the ongoing North Atlantic Right Whale Unusual Mortality Event. NOAA Fisheries and other experts developed the protocol to hopefully provide a larger picture of what is happening to the North Atlantic right whale population.

The North Atlantic right whale is one of the world’s most endangered large whale species, according to NOAA. The latest estimate suggests that there are fewer than 350 individuals and 70 reproductive females.

According to the organization, the 36 sublethal injury or illness cases are due to vessel strikes, entanglements, and injuries or poor body condition of unknown cause.

“We are adding these individual whales to the 34 mortality and 21 serious injury cases in the UME for a more accurate total of 91 whales impacted by this event,” NOAA said in a statement.

“These sublethal impacts, although not necessarily life-threatening, may be impeding health, growth, and reproduction of individual whales, and therefore recovery of the North Atlantic right whale species as a whole,” said Kim Damon-Randall, Director of the Office of Protected Resources.

The leading cause of the unusual mortality event is vessel strikes as well as entanglement in fishing gear. Scientists believe that the real number of right whales impacted by human interactions is much higher and have estimated that only one-third of North Atlantic right whale mortalities are detected.

Whales rely on critical ocean habitats where they feed, mate, give birth, nurse young, socialize or migrate—for their survival, according to WWF. Changing climate, entanglement in fishing gear, and collisions with vessels are the top threats to these majestic creatures, specifically in Eastern Canada and the United States. The good news is that all of these threats can be prevented or reduced. Passing the SAVE Act is our best chance to regulate the industries most responsible for their population declines and give our best effort to protect some of the largest mammals on earth.

Sign this petition to tell Congress to pass the SAVE Right Whales Act!

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• Help Protect the Endangered North Atlantic Right Whale From Oil Exploration!

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