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Severely entangled right whale Snow Cone spotted off Nantucket on Wednesday

The North Atlantic right whale Snow Cone and a calf sighted off Fernandina Beach, Florida on Jan. 6, 2022.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
/
via NOAA
The North Atlantic right whale Snow Cone and a calf sighted off Fernandina Beach, Florida on Jan. 6, 2022.

A severely entangled right whale was spotted 15 miles south of Nantucket on Wednesday by researchers from the New England Aquarium. The 17-year-old whale known as Snow Cone was carrying fishing gear from a new entanglement, along with gear from an earlier incident.

Researchers say she has been entangled continuously since March of last year. Heather Pettis of the New England Aquarium says the whale's condition has deteriorated rapidly since she was last seen in July, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and the prognosis is poor.

"The first entanglement was debilitating," says Pettis. "The addition of this second entanglement has clearly worsened her condition and really reduced much hope, if any, of her surviving."

Of perhaps 350 remaining North Atlantic right whales, Snow Cone is one of fewer than 100 breeding females. Her first calf was killed by a boat. Her second, born in December while she was severely entangled, hasn't been seen since April.

Pettis says most North Atlantic right whales are entangled more than once in their lifetimes. A disentanglement effort is on hold until the weather improves.

Murray Carpenter is Maine Public’s climate reporter, covering climate change and other environmental news.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

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