For years, some representatives of the Maine lobster industry have claimed that its gear has never been linked to a recent death of an endangered North Atlantic right whale. That claim has always been specious and at odds with scientific understanding. It is now clear right whales can and do get entangled in fishing gear in Maine waters.
On the afternoon of January 28, 2024, NOAA Fisheries was notified of a deceased female right whale near Joseph Sylvia State Beach on Martha’s Vineyard. Preliminary observations indicated the presence of rope entangled around, and embedded in, the whale’s tail. Later that day, state law enforcement officials collected samples of the rope and sent to gear experts for examination. NOAA has now concluded that the rope is consistent with that used in Maine state water trap/pot buoy lines.
Scientists soon identified the whale as #5120,…