North Atlantic right whale - Incidents: 2023

2023 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.

2023 Canadian Summary statistics:

• 0 NARW deaths observed in Canadian waters
• 1 NARW entanglement observed in Canadian waters
• 3 NARW entanglements in US waters linked to Canadian fisheries. Please see NOAA website for more information on these cases.

Entanglements

• 4904 (January 20, 2023)
  • Detected near Rodanthe, North Carolina, US
  • Unable to relocate for further actions
• 3812 ‘Nimbus’ (January 20, 2023)
  • Detected near Jekyll Island, Georgia, US
  • Partial gear removed January 21 by US response team.
  • Canadian Gear analysis confirmed rope was from Canadian snow crab harvester
  • Resighted February 13, 2023, gear free
• 1218 ‘Argo’ (January 27, 2023)
  • Detected near Surf City, North Carolina, US
  • Gear removed January 28 by US response crews
  • Canadian Gear analysis confirmed rope was from Canadian lobster harvester
• 4545 (February 9, 2023)
  • Detected south of Nantucket, Massachusetts, US
    • Unable to perform further actions
  • Resighted March 29, 2023, in Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts, US
    • Unable to perform further actions
  • Resighted April 4, 2023, in Cape Cody Bay, Massachusetts, US
    • Partial disentanglement attempted
    • Canadian Gear analysis confirmed rope was from Canadian snow crab harvester
    • Unable to perform further actions
  • Resighted July 20, 2023, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada
    • Unable to perform further actions
  • Resighted July 30, 2023, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada
    • Detected with new additional entanglement
    • Unable to perform further actions
  • Resighted: August 24, 2023, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada
    • Unable to relocate for further actions
• 4042 (July 15, 2023)
  • Detected in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada
    • Unable to perform further actions
  • Resighted September 5, 2023, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada
    • Appeared to be gear free
  • Resighted September 8, 2023, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada
    • Confirmed gear free

Mortalities

• 5394 (January 7, 2023)
  • Observed dead near Morehead City, North Carolina, US
  • Necropsy determined cause of death was perinatal mortality
• 3343 (February 12, 2023)
  • Observed dead near Virginia Beach, Virginia, US
  • Necropsy determined cause of death was suspect blunt force trauma from a vessel strike