{"id":443245,"date":"2026-02-01T18:01:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T18:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/443245\/"},"modified":"2026-02-01T18:01:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T18:01:14","slug":"entangled-right-whale-found-dead-off-north-carolina-coast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/443245\/","title":{"rendered":"Entangled right whale found dead off North Carolina coast"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLocal News\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tNOAA confirms the death of a 4-year-old North Atlantic right whale after months of worsening injuries from fishing gear.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\t Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute\t<\/p>\n

A North Atlantic right whale suffering from a prolonged entanglement in fishing gear has been found dead off the coast of North Carolina, according to the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A partial whale carcass was spotted Jan. 27 by an aerial survey team from Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute about 25 miles off Avon, North Carolina, NOAA said. Visual assessments showed the whale\u2019s health declined and its injuries had worsened as a result of the entanglement.<\/p>\n

Scientists at the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium reviewed images and confirmed the animal was a 4-year-old male, according to a press release from New England Aquarium. He was named \u201cDivision\u201d in 2025 for his callosity pattern, which resembles the mathematical division symbol, and was regularly sighted in the New England waters and the Gulf of St. Lawrence<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Despite his young age, Division had been entangled at least three times, scientists recorded.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He was first spotted in his most recent entanglement on Dec. 3, 2025, with fishing line wrapped around his head and mouth, cutting into his blowhole and embedding in his upper jaw, according to the Aquarium.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPublic urged to report sightings of entangled right whale\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tResearchers spot high number of right whales in Cape Cod Bay\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

A partial disentanglement was carried out by local response teams, but scientists in the Aquarium\u2019s Anderson Cabot Center later noted multiple signs<\/a> the whale had been entangled for an extended period and was experiencing a worrisome decline in his health, the Aquarium said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Poor weather and the whale\u2019s distance from shore prevented further rescue efforts. He was last seen alive Jan. 21 off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, the Aquarium said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile this outcome is not a surprise given the severity of the entanglement, it\u2019s still incredibly disheartening to bear witness to the death of a critically endangered right whale,\u201d Heather Pettis, senior scientist in the Aquarium\u2019s Anderson Cabot Center, said in the press release.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The death is the first detected North Atlantic right whale fatality since May 2024<\/a>, according to NOAA. Given the carcass\u2019 location and dangerous weather conditions, NOAA said recovery and a necropsy are not possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Federal authorities are analyzing the fishing gear recovered during the December disentanglement, the Aquarium said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDivision\u2019s entanglement and ultimate death serve as a stark reminder that human activities remain a clear and present threat to this species,\u201d Pettis said.<\/p>\n

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Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Local News NOAA confirms the death of a 4-year-old North Atlantic right whale after months of worsening injuries…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":443246,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[79,201],"class_list":["post-443245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=443245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443245\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/443246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=443245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=443245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=443245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}