Another death of critically endangered North Atlantic right whale renews calls for shipping regulations

Another death of a critically endangered right whale has renewed calls for regulations of shipping lane speed limits to protect the dwindling species

Another death of a critically endangered North Atlantic right whale has renewed calls for regulation of shipping lane speed limits to protect the dwindling species and other marine life.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported a dead right whale floating about 20 miles off the coast of Tybee Island, Georgia, on Thursday. NOAA Fisheries was first alerted to the juvenile female whale, an offspring born to a tracked whale named Pilgrim, the previous Tuesday.

On Wednesday, a team from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources responded to the scene, where they discovered that the carcass of the whale, which was born in December 2022, was heavily scavenged by sharks, according to NOAA.

This is the second North Atlantic right whale to be found dead off the U.S. coast in less than a month. On Jan. 28, a dead female right whale washed up near Joseph Sylvia State Beach on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. A rope that was embedded in the whale's tailstock – the area between the dorsal fin and flukes – was determined to be from Maine, according to NOAA.