The North Atlantic right whale found dead this past weekend off Martha's Vineyard was a 3-year-old female, scientists at the New England Aquarium confirmed Friday.
The deceased female was found entangled in a rope near Joseph Sylvia State Beach in Edgartown on Sunday, according to NOAA Fisheries.
The rope was entangled around and embedded in her tail, the aquarium said.
NOAA Fisheries and the International Fund for Animal Welfare are working with environmental police, Edgartown police, Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute were able to secure the whale.
The whale will undergo a necropsy — animal autopsy — this week to determine the cause of death, the aquarium said.
She was last seen last year in "poor health" with a "rope deeply embedded in her tail," the New England Aquarium said in a release.
The whale was first spotted, however, entangled in fishing gear in August 2022 in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada, according to the aquarium. Researchers tried to disentangle her in January and February of last year near Cape Cod.
The 3-year-old was once again seen in June 2023 in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, with her "overall body condition declining" because the rope had "constricted around her tail" and became severely "embedded."
The whale's family had experienced about seven different entanglements, the aquariums said, with the 3-year-old being the eighth.
North Atlantic right whales are nearing extinction, with about 360 remaining, including less than 70 reproductively active females, according to NOAA Fisheries.
Main threats to this animal are entanglement in fishing gear and vessel strikes, NOAA Fisheries said.
Anyone who spots an injured or stranded whale, dead or alive, should maintain a 150-foot distance, according to NOAA Fisheries.
The sightings can be reported to The Greater Atlantic Marine Mammal Stranding Hotline can be reached at 866-755-6622 and the Southeast Marine Mammal Stranding Hotline at 877-942-5343.
