Huge sea creature gets entangled in fishing gear — for 2nd time — off Canada, group says

A female North Atlantic right whale was recently spotted off the east coast of Canada ensnared in fishing gear.

It’s her second entanglement in less than a decade, indicating the dire need for protections for one of the most-endangered whale species on Earth, according to a May 10 news release from Oceana, a conservation group.

Aerial surveillance discovered the whale, named Shelagh, dragging a rope from her mouth in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

She will be monitored by Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s Marine Mammal Response Program to determine if it’s possible to disentangle her.

She previously became entangled in 2017 in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Oceana said.

“While we wait to see if Shelagh can be disentangled, this whale becomes the latest example of the ongoing threat to this species posed by an utter lack of protections,” Gib Brogan, the campaign director for Oceana in the U.S., said in the release.

Shelagh’s entanglement underscores the need for the fishing industry to transition to ropeless gear “before it’s too late,” Kim Elmslie, the group’s campaign director in Canada, said in the release.

There are approximately 356 North Atlantic right whales remaining, meaning every entanglement has a major impact on their small population.

The whales, which can grow up to 52 feet long, were hunted to the brink of extinction in the 19th and 20th centuries, and their populations have never recovered, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

In addition to collisions with vessels, entanglements in fishing gear are considered the leading cause of their deaths, according to NOAA.

NOAA “is long overdue at establishing effective safeguards for North Atlantic right whales that prevent entanglements and simultaneously allow fisheries to operate in a truly sustainable way,” Brogan said. “The question is whether the U.S. and Canadian governments will act in time to save this species or knowingly watch it slide into extinction.”

This story was originally published May 14, 2024 at 12:05 PM with the headline "Huge sea creature gets entangled in fishing gear — for 2nd time — off Canada, group says."