June 6, 2019 — The first dead critically endangered North Atlantic right whale of 2019 has been spotted in Canada’s Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the fisheries and oceans department said Wednesday.
The ministry said in a release that the animal carcass had been spotted drifting in the channel during an aerial surveillance flight on June 4.
“We are currently assessing the recovery and necropsy options,” it said.
The Canadian government stepped up tracking of right whales after more than a dozen were found dead in 2017 in the busy seaway and off the coast of New England in the United States, which had prompted concern from marine biologists.