The first North Atlantic right whale baby born this season has died after being hit by a vessel, NOAA said on Monday, marking a grim start to the year as one of the world's most endangered large whale species inches closer to extinction.
NOAA first learned of the injured calf on Jan. 6, when it was found off of Edisto, South Carolina, three days prior. Videos showed the calf with "several propellor wounds on the head, mouth, and left lip," injuries that the agency says are consistent with a vessel strike. Preliminary assessments indicate the vessel may have been between 35 and 57 feet long, although no whale strikes had been reported in that area during the injury time frame.
The injuries are believed to have potentially impacted the baby's ability to nurse, which calves typically do for about their first year of life.
"The wounds to the calf are severe. We are heartened that the calf survived the initial injury, and there is some evidence of healing. However, we do not know the full extent of the wounds below the surface," NOAA said in January. "We remain concerned the calf may eventually die from internal injuries, infection, or impaired behavior, particularly nursing, given the damage to the lip."
The calf was found with its mother on Feb. 1 and is believed to have successfully nursed. But over the weekend, NOAA Fisheries learned of a dead calf found "heavily scavenged by sharks" on Georgia's Cumberland Island National Seashore, and found that it was the same calf. NOAA said they do not know the sex of the animal, but know it's the same calf as the one found earlier this year based on its unique injuries and markings.
The calf was born to a whale scientists have identified as 38-year-old Juno, the first North Atlantic right whale found to give birth this season. She was first spotted with her calf on Nov. 28 off the South Carolina coast when her calf, Juno's eighth documented, was just a few days old. This was the first calf Juno had given birth to since 2020, and before the injury, they were last seen together at the beginning of December.
Greg Reilly, southeast marine campaigner for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, said that the calf's death is "a beacon of hope...turned into a tragedy."
"Human activity has set this species on a collision course with extinction," Reilly said.
There are just an estimated 360 North Atlantic right whales remaining, with less than 70 being reproductively active females. Yet, more than 20% of the species' population has been impacted by an unusual mortality event since it began in 2017, NOAA has found, marking a "significant impact on an endangered species where deaths are outpacing births." Since the UME started, there have been at least 123 documented cases of the whales being dead or seriously or sublethally injured or ill.
Vessel strikes and entanglements continue to be a major contributor to the deaths and injuries. NOAA says that the whales live and migrate near major ports, making them vulnerable to vessel collisions, and that more than 85% of the whales have been entangled in fishing gear at least once. The latter is known to cause serious injuries, and scientists believe chronic entanglements are contributing to females of the species having fewer calves.
Kathleen Collins, senior marine campaign manager for the IFAW, said the situation is "heartbreaking."
"The first North Atlantic right whale calf of the season never made it out of the nursery," Collins said. "It suffered a slow, agonizing death for half its short life."
