Whale thought to be just a "day or two old" found dead under North Carolina pier as its species is "approaching extinction"

Another whale of the heavily endangered North Atlantic right whale species has been found dead. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Friday that the whale, found in North Carolina on Jan. 7, was a newborn who was last seen swimming without its mother. 

The last time the right whale calf was seen alive was on Jan. 3, when NOAA said that a member of the public reported seeing the calf swimming by itself near the shore of Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina. An aerial survey team attempted to find an adult whale nearby that could be its mother, but no other whales were found in the area. 

Experts who responded to the calf sighting said that the baby boy appeared to be underweight and "in relatively poor health," NOAA said.