2017-2023 North Atlantic Right Whale Unusual Mortality Event Feature Service

The following dataset depicts all dead right whale stranding locations between January 1, 2017 through February 23, 2023 along the Atlantic coast, which is defined as Canada's Gulf of St. Lawrence region and outer coast which includes Quebec, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island and in the U.S. from Maine through Florida. Upon investigation by NOAA Fisheries and partners, the UME was defined as beginning on January 1, 2017 and remains active as of February 23, 2023.

This dataset was created for the purposes of mapping.

Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, an unusual mortality event (UME) is defined as "a stranding that is unexpected; involves a significant die-off of any marine mammal population; and demands immediate response." To understand the health of marine mammal populations, scientists study unusual mortality events. Understanding and investigating these events is important because they can serve as indicators of ocean health.

This feature service contains stranding locations for dead right whales between January 1, 2017 through February 23, 2023 along the Atlantic coast, which is defined as Canada's Gulf of St. Lawrence region and outer coast which includes Quebec, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island and in the U.S. from Maine through Florida. The locations of the features in the dataset represent where the whale was first reported/observed.

North Atlantic

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Users must assume responsibility to determine the appropriate use of these data.