Endangered Right Whales Off Massachusetts in Tremendous Danger

A pair of endangered North Atlantic Right Whales are struggling off the coast of Massachusetts and experts fear neither will survive.

Earlier this week a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries aerial survey team discovered not one, but two adult right whales tangled in fishing line off the coast of Nantucket.

Though they continue to monitor the whales' situations, experts believe the results of these entanglements could pose a long-standing threat to the entire species.

North Atlantic Right Whales are some of the most endangered whales in the world.

After years of being hunted by whalers, the North Atlantic Right Whales are now still suffering from boats and fishers year after year.

READ MORE: Whale Thought To Be Extinct Spotted in Massachusetts' Waters

Incidents like the ones off Nantucket right now are not new, right whales become entangled in fishing line and ropes or are struck by boats and killed every year.

What makes the current situation in Massachusetts so tragic, is that both a female and male right whale are struggling with fishing line and neither are expected to survive.

The male right whale was first spotted by researchers as a calf in 2021 and recently was seen swimming, line free, in Cape Cod Bay. On the morning of December 17, 2024 however, the juvenile was seen severely entangled in what has been dubbed a "serious injury", meaning the whale will likely die.

READ MORE: Humpback Whale Stranded at Westport Beach

Sadly an older female, who was first seen as a calf in 2011, has also become entangled in the same area, with two lines seen exiting the left side of her mouth and continuing down two-thirds of her body.

Her injuries are also expected to be fatal, meaning one less male and female right whale of reproduction age out of the North Atlantic Right Whale population.

With numbers for these whales so critical, losing a pair the could have helped their numbers grow means long-standing threats to this species of whale entirely.

NOAA continues to monitored the pair as the struggle off Nantucket, but a response team has yet to be deployed due to their location so far from shore.