Overview
- Federal scientists confirmed a 3-year-old right whale washed ashore on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, marking the second death off the U.S. East Coast in as many weeks.
- New England Aquarium identified the whale as the 2023 calf of the 25-year-old female Porcia using catalog photo matching.
- NOAA and Marine Mammal Stranding Network partners will document and necropsy the carcass to the extent possible due to limited site access.
- NOAA estimates about 380 right whales remain, and this case is the 43rd confirmed death in the ongoing Unusual Mortality Event that began in 2017, with 170 whales documented as dead, seriously injured, or ill.
- NOAA cites fishing-gear entanglements and vessel strikes as leading causes of serious injury and death, and conservation groups stressed the loss of a young female and called for stronger protections.