Federal officials say they’ve spotted a critically endangered North Atlantic right whale entangled in gear in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada says a surveillance flight spotted the whale on Oct. 21 between New Brunswick’s Acadian Peninsula, P.E.I. and Quebec’s Îles-de-la-Madeleine.
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The department says the entanglement in the Bradelle Bank region wasn’t spotted until scientists and experts reviewed footage this week.
If the whale is located again, officials plan to tag the gear with a satellite tracker and try to disentangle the animal.
The department says it has not been able to identify the whale or the type of gear it’s caught in.
The entire North Atlantic right whale population is estimated at just 384 animals.
Source: globalnews.ca
