Two endangered right whales entangled in fishing gear in Gulf of St. Lawrence
Posted July 14, 2021 11:29 am.
Last Updated July 14, 2021 11:39 am.
FREDERICTON — A New Brunswick-based whale-rescue team says two North Atlantic right whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence are entangled in fishing gear.
Mackie Greene, director of the Campobello Whale Rescue program, said today the group tried last Thursday to free Snow Cone, a female who had been originally spotted entangled off Cape Cod, Mass., this spring.
Greene says an American crew was able to remove some of the rope at the time, adding that his team detached rope from the whale when it arrived in the gulf in May and removed more rope last week.
He says the whale appears healthy and is feeding but rope remains in her mouth and is trailing behind the animal.
Greene says a larger, mature whale that’s entangled in gear has been spotted about 80 kilometres northeast of Shippagan, N.B.
He says his group will try and free the whale this weekend and hopefully make another attempt to cut more rope off Snow Cone.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 14, 2021.
The Canadian Press
