Endangered whale dies off SC coast after being tangled up in fishing gear for months

A critically endangered right whale was found dead near the South Carolina coast over the weekend after several months of being tangled in fishing gear, officials said.

The NOAA’s Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office confirmed the 11-year-old male nicknamed “Cottontail” was discovered in waters about 15 miles off the shore of Myrtle Beach on Saturday. Experts previously spotted the mammal caught in fishing gear south of Nantucket, Massachusetts in October.

The animal re-emerged a few weeks ago near Florida’s Treasure Coast, where a team of whale disentanglement experts tried unsuccessfully to free it.

“Due to the animal’s poor body condition and offshore location, teams mobilized early today to find the whale by boat, collect biological samples, place a tag on the whale to continue to track its location, and remove ropes entangling the animal,” the agency said in an update Sunday.

Cottontail’s death marks the 34th “Unusual Mortality Event” for North Atlantic right whales since 2017, according to NOAA Fisheries. Entanglements and collisions with fishing boats account for most of the documented UMEs and pose “significant setbacks to the species’ recovery.”

Fishery experts estimate there are fewer than 400 North Atlantic right whales remaining in the wild.

The mammals typically live off the Atlantic coast of the U.S. and Canada, and can grow up 52 feet in length. Zooplankton comprise much of their diets, but adult right whales can weigh up to 70 tons, according to NOAA.

When Cottontail was spotted in October, experts said “there was a line over its head, exiting both sides of his mouth, extending beyond his tail for about three to four body lengths.” The whale disentanglement team managed to move some of the fishing gear and also added a buoy for tracking purposes..

The total Unusual Mortality Event count now stands at 34 dead and 14 seriously injured right whales, the agency said.