March 13, 2023 — A top ocean conservation group in the country is calling on the feds to enforce boat speed limits along the Atlantic coast and issue stronger protections to prevent more deaths of North Atlantic right whales.
The group Oceana released an analysis Thursday that found hundreds of boats had sped through mandatory and voluntary slow zones designed to protect the critically endangered species in the Virginia Beach area in the weeks leading up to a North Atlantic right whale death.
There are just 340 right whales left in the world today, a number that has declined by 25% over the past decade, according to conservation scientists.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration determined blunt force traumatic injuries as the cause of death of the 20-year-old male right whale. The injuries mirrored those of a boat strike, a leading threat to such whales.