PORTLAND, MAINE—Fearing an existential threat to one of the largest mammals in the sea, the United States government has launched an investigation into a string of deaths of endangered North Atlantic right whales. In April, a North Atlantic right whale was found dead in Cape Cod Bay. No more than 500 still exist in the wild, prompting conservation groups and marine scientists to warn that the survival of the North Atlantic right whale is at imminent risk of extinction. “It wasn’t that long ago that sightings of right whales in the gulf were considered a rare occurrence,” Hardy said. The tragic death prompted U.S. officials to ban whale entanglement rescues, a restriction since lifted for all whales — except right whales.

Source: thestar August 26, 2017 00:45 UTC