Whale rescue groups are still waiting for the green light to head out and help entangled right whales after the death of one volunteer put missions on hold.
The Campobello Whale Rescue Team’s boat remains tied to the dock even though a North Atlantic right whale is entangled in fishing gear in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Two weeks ago, Joe Howlett, a member of the Campobello team, died while disentangling a right whale from fishing gear just east of Shippagan, N.B. The Department of Fisheries immediately halted volunteer missions. Mackie Green, a founder of the Campobello Whale Rescue Team, said the team is still in shock, but feel they need to help entangled whales now more than ever.
“If we had the green light from the government we’d definitely go up and try to do whatever we could,” Green told CTV Atlantic.
Green said his team is growing increasingly concerned after another right whale was found dead earlier this week in the same area Howlett died in. The whale was towed to land so a necropsy could be completed.
Some say this has been the worst year for the right whale since research began on the mammal 30 years ago. Jerry Conway, a member of the Canadian Whale Institute and the Campobello volunteer team, is one of those expressing concern. In just six weeks, eight right whales have turned up dead and to the team’s knowledge, only three right whale calves have been born.
“It’s a tragic loss to the population and puts the population in jeopardy,” said Conway. “The team here is ready to go at a moment’s notice.”
On Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acknowledged the problem while he was visiting Nova Scotia. He said steps are being taken to try and protect the whales. The Department of Fisheries announced they would be suspending snow crab fishing in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in an effort to prevent more whale deaths.
“We know we need to take threats to any marine animals seriously,” Trudeau said during a press conference. “That’s why we’re… trying to understand how it happened and make sure it doesn’t happen anymore.”
The Department of Fisheries also acknowledged that entanglement is an extremely distressing situation for right whales but have not lifted the ban on volunteer missions.
It’s believed there are only 525 right whales left in the world.
With a report from CTV Atlantic’s Mike Cameron
