Savannah: Scientists see the endangered right whale dragged the length of fishing line caught in its mouth while swimming with a newborn calf of Coastal Georgia, a rare confirmation of births by whales are entangled, they can not be tried safely please.
Pope baby looks healthy and not injured when aerial survey team saw it on Thursday with her mother swinging near Cumberland Island, Georgia, said Clay George, a wildlife biologist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
It was a newborn right whale which was confirmed both in the Atlantic waters in the southeastern United States during the lean season species that usually lasts from December to March.
North Atlantic right whales are highly threatened, the scientists estimate that fewer than 350 survived.
Adult women migrate to the warmer waters of Georgia and Florida every winter to give birth.
George said he was only aware of one other confirmed reports, starting in January 2011, of the entangled right whale was seen with a newborn – and who finally managed to break free.
Pope females saw last week, was identified by unique markings on his head, had dragged the fishing line at least since March.
That’s when the first reported trapped in Cape Cod Bay, off the coast of Massachusetts.
Wildlife experts managed to shorten the rope before whales heading south, but can not release him.
“We have not seen whales are entangled chronic come here from the north and have a calf,” George said, adding: “It’s incredible.
But on the other hand, it could eventually become a death sentence for him.” That’s because the mother whales can struggle to taking care of calves and still have the energy needed to keep dragging fishing line while also trying to recover from potential injury to the mouth, said George.
Right whales females usually gorge themselves in the waters where they feed on and off New England and Canada before heading south to give birth.
They will not eat again until they returned – a round trip that can take three months or more.
Respondents were trained in a boat approaching the mother whales and calves on Thursday.
After consultation with other experts, George said response teams conclude any attempt to remove or further shorten the rope fishing would pose too great a risk to whales and crew.
Spotter which scans the waters every day for the whales and their babies during childbirth season plan to keep an eye on the pair.
“My concern is he still got two pieces of string, about 20 feet out from the left side of his mouth,” said Georgia.
“If the two pieces of rope that ended tied around each other and there is a loop, you can imagine that the calf finally caught.” Scientists and advocates with the North Atlantic right whale consortium said in October they suspected marine mammal loss of nearly 10% of their population last year, with a total of 336.
estimate they fell to right whales were destroyed during the era of commercial whale, when they hunted for oil they.
Now scientists say entanglement with fishing gear and ship collisions with right whales killed faster than can be reproduced.