North Atlantic right whale - Incidents: 2019

2019 Incident tracker

Incident tracking data presented here by Fisheries and Oceans Canada is collected and draws from reports prepared by Canadian and U.S. response partners, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, research groups and non-governmental organizations. Additional information may be available through different sources that provide additional context; this serves as the official record of Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

2019 Canadian Summary statistics:

• 8* NARW deaths reported in Canadian waters.
• 3 NARW entanglements observed in Canadian waters
• 2 NARW entanglements in US waters, 0 linked to Canadian fisheries. Please see NOAA website for more information on these cases.

*An additional report of a carcass was received by the Department, but was unable to be confirmed by the Department as a separate incident. See description below.

Entanglements

• 4423 (April 25, 2019)
  • Detected in Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts, U.S
    • Unable to relocate for further actions
  • Resighted July 16, 2019, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada
    • Partial disentanglement conducted by Canadian response partners
  • Resighted October 28, 2019, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada
    • Confirmed gear free
• 4440 (June 29, 2019)
  • Detected in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada
    • Unable to relocate for further actions
  • Resighted July 16, 2019, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada
    • Partial disentanglement conducted by Canadian response partners
  • Resighted August 14, 2019, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada
    • Confirmed gear free
• 3125 (July 4, 2019)
  • Detected in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada
    • Unable to relocate for further actions
  • Resighted July 23-25, 2019, near the Scotian Shelf, Canada
    • Partial disentanglement conducted by Canadian response partners
  • Resighted August 2, 2019, near Cape Cod, Massachusetts, U.S
    • Partial disentanglement conducted by US response partners
  • No Canadian gear analysis possible
• 1226 ‘Snake Eyes’ (August 6, 2019)
  • Detected in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada
    • Unable to perform further actions
  • Resighted September 16, 2019, near Long Island, New York, U.S
    • Observed dead (see below)
• 3466 (December 21, 2019)
  • Detected south of Nantucket, Massachusetts, U.S
    • Unable to relocate for further actions
  • Resighted April 7, 2021, near Southern New England, Massachusetts, U.S
    • Confirmed gear free

Mortalities

• 4023 (June 4, 2019)
  • Observed dead in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada
  • Necropsy determined cause of death was suspected blunt force trauma from a vessel strike
• 1281 (June 20, 2019)
  • Observed dead in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada
  • Necropsy determined cause of death was probable sharp force trauma from a vessel strike
• Unknown (June 24, 2019)
  • Observed dead in the Cabot Strait, Nova Scotia, Canada. Additional information received by DFO on July 19th confirmed it was a NARW.
  • Carcass was unable to be relocated. Cause of death is unknown
• 1514 (June 25, 2019)
  • Observed dead in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada
  • Necropsy determined cause of death was probable blunt force trauma from a vessel strike
• 3815 (June 25, 2019)
  • Observed dead in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada
  • Carcass examined and sampled. No necropsy completed. Cause of death is unknown.
• 3329 (June 26, 2019)
  • Observed dead in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada
  • Carcass examined and sampled at sea. No necropsy completed. Cause of death is unknown
• 3450 (June 27, 2019)
  • Observed dead in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada
  • Necropsy determined cause of death was probable blunt force trauma from a vessel strike
• 3421 (July 18, 2019)
  • Observed dead in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada
  • Necropsy was completed but cause of death was undetermined
• Unknown (July 21, 2019)
  • Observed dead near Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada.
  • Carcass was not examined due to level of decomposition. Cause of death is unknown. The Department was unable to verify if this was the same carcass as observed on June 24th
• 1226 (September 16, 2019)
  • Initially detected entangled Aug 6, 2019 (as above)
  • Observed dead near Long Island, New York
  • Necropsy determined cause of death was probable acute injuries from entanglement. No gear retrieved therefore no gear analysis was conducted to determine fishery of origin.