
2017–2021 North Atlantic Right Whale Unusual Mortality Event
Since 2017, elevated numbers of dead or seriously injured North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) have been documented, necessitating an Unusual Mortality Event declaration and investigation.
Beginning in 2017, elevated mortalities in North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) have been documented, primarily in Canada but some in the U.S., and were collectively declared an Unusual Mortality Event (UME). In 2017, there were a total of 17 confirmed dead stranded whales (12 in Canada; 5 in the United States) and in 2018, three confirmed dead stranded whales in the United States. In 2019, nine dead whales stranded in Canada, and one dead whale stranded in the United States. In 2020, two mortalities were documented. To date in 2021, two mortalities has been documented. The current total confirmed mortalities for the UME are 34 dead stranded whales (21 in Canada; 13 in the United States), and the leading category for the cause of death for this UME is “human interaction,” specifically from entanglements or vessel strikes.
Additionally, since 2017, 15 live free-swimming non-stranded whales have been documented with serious injuries from entanglements or vessel strikes. The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) requires NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to distinguish between injuries to marine mammals that are serious and those that are non-serious (e.g., MMPA Sections 101(a)(2)(4) and(5); 101(d); 108(a)(2); 117; 118; 120 (j)(2)). MMPA Sections 117 and 118 specifically direct NMFS to consider the human-caused mortality and serious injury to marine mammals for stock assessments and management of fisheries interactions. Serious injury determination is a detailed assessment process that uses data, such as body condition and parameters of the human-caused injury, collected from living whales to determine an individual whale’s prognosis for survival. A serious injury designation indicates a whale is likely to die from those injuries (although it was alive at its last sighting). More recent serious injury determinations (e.g., 2020 & 2021) are preliminary and subject to change as we receive additional information. Therefore, the preliminary cumulative total number of animals in the North Atlantic right whale UME has been updated to 49 individuals to include both the confirmed mortalities (dead stranded or floaters) (n=34) and seriously injured free-swimming whales (n=15) to better reflect the confirmed number of whales likely removed from the population during the UME and more accurately reflect the population impacts.
Thus, given there are less than 400 individual North Atlantic right whales remaining, these 49 individuals in the UME represent more than 10% of the population, which is a significant setback to the recovery of such a critically endangered species.
Year | Month | NARW ID | Sex | Location First Observed Dead | Preliminary Cause of Death |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Canada | |||||
2017 | June | #3746 | M | Gulf of St Lawrence | Undetermined; could not be examined |
2017 | June | Glacier #1402 | M | Gulf of St Lawrence | Suspect blunt force trauma (vessel strike) |
2017 | June | Panama #3190 | M | Gulf of St Lawrence | Undetermined; advance decomposition |
2017 | June | Starboard #3603 | F | Gulf of St Lawrence | Acute entanglement (gear present; anchored) |
2017 | June | Contrail #3512 | F | Gulf of St Lawrence | Undetermined; could not be examined |
2017 | June | #1207 | M | Gulf of St Lawrence | Probable blunt force trauma (vessel strike) |
2017 | July | Unk | M | Gulf of St Lawrence | Probable blunt force trauma (vessel strike) |
2017 | July | Peanut #2140 | M | Gulf of St Lawrence | Suspect blunt force trauma (vessel strike) |
2017 | July | Alien #2630 | M | Newfoundland | Undetermined; could not be examined |
2017 | July | Unk | F | Newfoundland | Undetermined; could not be examined |
2017 | July | Mystique #1911 | F | Newfoundland | Undetermined; could not be examined |
2017 | September | #4504 | F | Gulf of St Lawrence | Acute entanglement (gear present) |
2019 | June | Wolverine #4023 | M | Gulf of St Lawrence | Suspect blunt force trauma (vessel strike) |
2019 | June | Punctuation #1281 |
F |
Gulf of St Lawrence | Probable blunt force trauma (vessel strike) |
2019 | June | Comet #1514 | M | Gulf of St Lawrence | Probable blunt force trauma (vessel strike) |
2019 | June | #3815 | F | Gulf of St Lawrence | Undetermined; not examined |
2019 | June | #3329 | F | Gulf of St Lawrence | Undetermined; not examined |
2019 | June | Clipper #3450 | F | Gulf of St Lawrence | Probable blunt force trauma (vessel strike) |
2019 | June | Unk | U | Cape Breton | Undetermined; not examined |
2019 | July | #3421 | M | Gulf of St Lawrence | Undetermined |
2019 | July | Unk | M | Cape Breton | Undetermined; not examined |
USA | |||||
2017 | April | #4694 | F | Barnstable, MA | Blunt force trauma (vessel strike) |
2017 | August | Unk | M | Martha's Vineyard, MA | Probable entanglement |
2017 | August | Couplet #2123 | F | Cape Cod, MA (offshore) | Undetermined; could not be examined |
2017 | October | Unk | M | Nashawena Island, MA | Suspect entanglement |
2017 | November | Picasso #2611 | F | Martha's Vineyard, MA | Undetermined; advance decomposition |
2018 | January | #3893 | F | Virginia Beach, VA (offshore) | Chronic entanglement (gear present) |
2018 | August | #4505 | M | Monomoy, MA | Probable entanglement |
2018 | October | #3515 |
F |
Nantucket, MA (offshore) | Probable acute entanglement |
2019 | September | Snake Eyes #1226 | M | Long Island, NY(offshore) | Probable acute entanglement |
2020 | June | 2020 Calf of #3560 | M | Elberon, New Jersey (offshore) | Sharp and blunt force trauma (vessel strike) |
2020 | November | Unk | M | Core Banks, North Carolina | Perinatal mortality |
2021 | February | 2021 Calf of #3230 | M | St. Augustine, Florida | Pending |
2021 | February | Cottontail #3920 | M | off Myrtle Beach, SC | Chronic entanglement (gear present) |