An endangered whale was killed this week most likely by a ship strike. Less than 360 of the species remain

Another endangered North Atlantic right whale turned up dead off the coast of Virginia late last month. A necropsy found the whale, a mother to a young calf, had suffered “catastrophic injuries” consistent with being struck by a ship, according to a release from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Another North Atlantic right whale has turned up dead, this time off the coast of Virginia in late March. A necropsy found the endangered whale, a mother to a young calf, had suffered “catastrophic injuries” consistent with being struck by a ship, according to a release from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. On March 30, a company conducting mid-Atlantic whale surveys for the Navy notified NOAA of the dead whale, floating around 50 miles east of Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia, NOAA said. The whale’s carcass, which had been scavenged by sharks, was pulled to shore for a necropsy and identified as a mom from the 2024 calving season, having given birth to her sixth calf this past winter. According to NOAA, her young, dependent calf has not been seen since it was last spotted with the mother off Amelia Island, Florida, in February. “We do not expect the calf to survive without protection and nursing from its mother,” the agency said. The necropsy of the mother whale, conducted on April 2, found “catastrophic injuries with a dislocation of the whale’s spine and fractures to all vertebrae in the lower back (…) consistent with blunt force trauma from a vessel strike prior to death,” the release said.