September 18, 2019 — A dead North Atlantic right whale found floating off New York’s Long Island Monday afternoon could raise the official death toll of the endangered species to 29 in the last two years, jacking up pressure on the U.S. and Canadian governments to slow those losses.
The latest find comes less than a week after Chris Oliver, NMFS administrator, said the agency will move ahead with rulemaking to reduce the risk of whale entanglements in fishing gear — despite a withdrawal of support for proposed measure by the Maine lobster industry.
“We intend to address the threats posed by gillnets and to humpback whales at future (Atlantic Large Whale) Take Reduction Team meetings,” Oliver said in a statement issued Sept. 11.
NMFS officials said the carcass was discovered 4 miles south of Fire Island Inlet, and was so decomposed that its age, sex and cause of death could not be determined immediately.