Right whale who visited Cape Cod Bay died violently in southern waters. Scientists react.

 

Right whale who visited Cape Cod Bay died violently in southern waters. Scientists react.

Heather McCarron Cape Cod Times

Published Feb 23, 2023

Hope and despair.

Those two words are turning out to be descriptors for the way things are going so far this year for critically endangered North Atlantic right whales. Hope because of 11 new whales born. Despair because of two deaths, and four entanglements — one of which scientists worry is likely to kill the whale.

The latest news about the untimely death of a 20-year-old male who's visited Cape Cod Bay from time to time comes as a new blow to scientists and conservationists dedicated to helping pull the animals from the brink of extinction.

Known only by his designation in the North Atlantic Right Whale Catalog, No. 3343, the whale washed ashore Feb. 12 in Virginia Beach, Virginia. According to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, his cause of death was "blunt force trauma," with spinal injuries pointing to a boat strike, the agency reported. His injuries included multiple fractures to the vertebrae that indicated he died quickly; there were no external signs of trauma.

“It has been a challenging few weeks for right whales, and for those that care about them," said Philip Hamilton, senior scientist at the New England Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life.

Besides No. 3343's death, he cited the four whales observed with new entanglements since the start of the year — including a 4-year-old female seen Jan. 8 off North Carolina with severe injuries — and a newborn calf found dead on Jan. 7 near Morehead City, North Carolina,

Entangled calf spotted in JanuaryRight whale calf dangerously entangled off North Carolina. Seen free of gear last year off Massachusetts

It's a tragedy not only for the species overall, but also for No. 3343's family, said Hamilton, a former Cape Cod resident who started his career working with whales at the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown.

Ship strikes and rope entanglements have injured or killed family members of the dead right whale, according to researchers.

The whale's relatives have a history of unfortunate encounters with humans, mostly from vessel strikes. His eldest sister, "Lucky" (Catalog No. 2143) was struck by a boat when she was a calf.

"She had four or five fairly deep propeller cuts in her side," Hamilton said. "She survived that, but she got pregnant at 14 and her girth increased enough that it opened up the old wounds. She and her fetus both died."

Another sister, “Caterpillar” (Catalog No. 3503), currently 18, also suffered a vessel strike at the age of two and managed to survive. She has yet to give birth, but researchers fear a pregnancy could lead to a similar fate as "Lucky." A third sister, "Bayla" (Catalog No. 3911), became badly entangled when she was two and, in spite of efforts to help her, died in 2011. And whale No. 3343's aunt, “Reyna” (Catalog No. 1909), was struck and killed by a ship in 2004 while carrying a near-term fetus.

"There are all of these stories," said Hamilton. "The family histories are just tragic, one on top of the other."

A species in distressReport: North Atlantic right whales continuing to decline

Prior to his death, No. 3343 was last spotted off the coast of Georgia on Dec. 26. Researchers documented fishing gear entanglement injuries three times over his lifetime — including when he was a calf in 2003.

Hamilton said the whale, born to mother "Magic" (Catalog No. 1243) and father "Thorny" (Catalog No. 1032), only just reached the age when he could potentially father calves within the last five years.

"Sadly, he wasn’t given the opportunity to do so," said Hamilton.

The whale was last seen in southern New England waters in 2021, and in Cape Cod Bay in 2013.

Dead whale had visited Cape Cod Bay, but wasn't a regular.

Charles "Stormy" Mayo,  director of the right whale ecology program at the Center for Coastal Studies, said No. 3343 has been in Cape Cod Bay before, but he wasn't what researchers here considered "one of the locals."

Still, No. 3343 was interesting to scientists working better to understand the whales' social structures and movements. Mayo said his team is doing a lot of research on the right whales' individual site fidelity characteristics — that is, how much they use Cape Cod Bay.

"Last year we had 80.2% of the recorded population here, so a whale like this one is really interesting. The question of who these whales are who don't come to this motherlode is really intriguing," Mayo said. "If you could show that the whales do, in fact, have patterns that are discernible, including patterns of association, you can begin to ask really high level questions that are almost questions of their society."

With No. 3343's death, scientists have one fewer of these roamers to observe.

Beyond that, Mayo said, every loss is difficult, though there is added concern whenever a female is lost — something he said is a "disaster" when taking into account how few reproductively active females there are, and the trend toward longer intervals between pregnancies.

According to a report released in the fall by the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium, only about 340 of the animals — plus or minus seven — remained during 2021. Of those, only about 72 of them are reproductively active females.

Whale No. 3343's death is bringing renewed attention to the ongoing challenges facing North Atlantic right whales. Hamilton said the New England Aquarium and others support solutions to help the species recover, including broader speed restrictions to reduce the risk of vessel strikes.

NOAA proposed new vessel speed regulations last year. Massachusetts already has its own speed regulations for certain times of the year, but many feel they could be stronger.

"The wheels of government do not move quickly," Hamilton said. "We're in support of it, and we're urging NOAA to finalize it."

Final changes to the existing rules are not expected until later this year.