North Atlantic Right Whale Found Dead Off Long Island

A North Atlantic right whale was found dead floating four miles south of Fire Island Inlet on Monday afternoon, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service.

It's the first observed right whale death in U.S. waters in 2019.

An unusual mortality event (UME) has been in effect for North Atlantic right whales since 2017, during which nearly 30 whales have been found dead in U.S. and Canadian waters. North Atlantic right whales are endangered. Only about 400 right whales remain, of which only about 95 are breeding females.

Scientists at the Center for Coastal Studies and New England Aquarium identified this whale as Snake Eyes, #1226. He was a male and about 40 years old. Snake Eyes was last seen entangled in the Gulf of St. Lawrence on Aug. 6 after being seen gear-free there on July 16.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society and the NYS DEC, with help from SeaTow and Town of Hempstead, towed the whale's carcass to Jones Beach State Park. The tow took several hours, as they were moving slowly due to the wind and level of decomposition.

A necropsy team finished their examination and sampling on Wednesday, after which the carcass was set to be buried. The team gathered information and samples and will be reviewing them in the coming days.

"If we don’t act fast, we could see a large whale species go extinct in the Atlantic Ocean for the first time in centuries,” Jacqueline Savitz, chief policy officer at Oceana, said in a statement reported by People. “The U.S. and Canadian governments must both intervene immediately to get this species back on a recovery path. Even a single death by ship strike or entanglement in a given year is too much. Speed and convenience cannot be prioritized over the survival of this iconic species.”

NOAA Fisheries reminds the public to report sick, injured, stranded, or dead marine mammals to your local stranding network. In New York, please call 631-69-9829.