Federal scientists say an endangered North Atlantic right whale found dead on a Massachusetts shoreline last winter suffered fatal injuries from being chronically entangled in lobster fishing gear.
NOAA Fisheries issued a final necropsy report Wednesday saying that a rope “deeply embedded in the tail” of the dead whale “is consistent with the rope used in Maine state water trap/bouy lines.”
Officials said the finding came after consultation with New England state resource management partners who also viewed the gear, and that full results of the necropsy are forthcoming.
NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement also continues to investigate the case.F