Severely entangled North Atlantic right whale spotted off North Carolina with rope wrapped around head and mouth

BOSTON, MASS. (Dec. 20, 2024) – Just one week after two entangled North Atlantic right whales were seen off Massachusetts, a third right whale has been spotted off the coast of North Carolina with a severe fishing gear entanglement that may be preventing him from opening his mouth. These events are drawing attention to the urgent need for dramatic changes to fixed gear fisheries if we are to prevent this critically endangered species from being pushed to extinction.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), an aerial survey team from Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institution sighted Catalog #5132, a juvenile male, 60 miles east of the Outer Banks, North Carolina, on Dec. 16. NOAA noted rope wrapped around the whale’s head and mouth, with two buoys attached to the line.

“If what we suspect is true—that this whale’s mouth is strung shut and it cannot feed—its condition will decline, and we will bear witness to another right whale’s prolonged suffering and eventual death,” said Heather Pettis, research scientist in the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium.

NOAA biologists have determined the whale is a “serious injury” case, meaning it will likely die because of the entanglement. Current weather conditions in the area are not safe for launching an immediate disentanglement response, NOAA said.

Scientists in the Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center have been following Catalog #5132 since his birth in 2021 to mother “Lobster” (Catalog #3232). He experienced his first entanglement while still a dependent calf in 2021, when he suffered injuries to his head and tail. Prior to this week’s sighting, he was last spotted in the Bay of Fundy in October 2024.

Catalog #5132 is the third right whale to be seen entangled in fishing gear this month. Right whales Catalog #4120, a 13-year-old female, and Catalog #5110, a 3-year-old male, were seen entangled on December 9 about 60 nm southeast of Nantucket, MA. NOAA Fisheries biologists have determined that Catalog #5110 is likely to die from his serious injury.

“This case is yet another example of the ongoing entanglement threat facing North Atlantic right whales, which should be living much longer and healthier lives but instead are being killed by human activities,” said Amy Knowlton, senior scientist at the Aquarium.

Entanglements remain the leading cause of death and injury for North Atlantic right whales. From 1980 to the present, scientists have documented over 1,800 entanglement events involving over 85 percent of the right whale population. Of particular concern is the increasing frequency of moderate and severe injuries from entanglements, which have negative effects on reproduction and survival.

North Atlantic right whales are one of the most endangered large whale species in the world, with an estimated population of 372 and only 70 reproductive females. Since 2017, vessel strikes and entanglements in fishing gear have caused the death, serious injury, injury, or poor health of at least 124 individual right whales. These cases and others led to NOAA declaring an Unusual Mortality Event for the species. Serious injuries and deaths of right whales caused by entanglements are preventable and highlight the importance of broad-scale adoption of ropeless or “on-demand” gear and weaker ropes. Without adequate protection measures implemented throughout the right whale’s range in U.S. and Canadian waters in an expedited fashion and with significant funding support, entanglements and vessel strikes will continue to threaten the survival of the species.

“We fear time is running out for North Atlantic right whales,” Knowlton said.

MEDIA CONTACT: Pam Bechtold Snyder—617-686-5068; psnyder@neaq.org