The body of Juno’s calf was found stranded on Cumberland Island National Seashore in Georgia on March 3rd. Experts examined the calf the following day and found that the multiple lacerations observed on the calf’s head caused by a vessel’s propeller when the calf was struck had penetrated into deep soft tissues and bone, leading to multiple sites of tissue death.
The birth of Juno’s calf was the cause of much excitement last November, as they were the first mother-calf pair sighted during the North Atlantic right whale calving season. But the joy was short lived. On January 3rd, members of the public found the young calf off Edisto, South Carolina, with several deep propeller wounds on its head, mouth, and left lip consistent with a vessel strike. After reviewing the case, NOAA Fisheries biologists made a preliminary determination that the wounds met the…