|
A marine organization says stricter rules governing fishing gear are needed following the death of a North Atlantic right whale that was found dead off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday with fishing rope hanging out of its mouth.
Amy Knowlton, a senior scientist at the New England Aquarium's Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life, said Cottontail was first spotted last October during an aerial survey. At the time, he had fishing rope over his head and trailing from out of his mouth.
The 11-year-old whale was sighted again on Feb. 18 off the coast of Florida, still entangled in the ropes and looking "severely emaciated," Knowlton said. |
|
|
He was tagged with a satellite tracker during the sighting, however, the signal was lost shortly thereafter, Knowlton said.
"Then the whale was found dead 10 days after that sighting on Feb. 28 off of Myrtle Beach, S.C., so a long, slow bad death for this poor whale," she said.
Evidence speaks for itself
Knowlton said there won't be any further examination of Cottontail's corpse to find out exactly how it died.
However, given the fact the whale had been entangled for so long, and had lost so much weight, the culprit is very likely the fishing rope, Knowlton said. |
|