Endangered Baby North Atlantic Right Whale Found Dead On A Beach

Following the recent heart wrenching story of a critically endangered whale that was spotted entangled in fishing nets off the New Jersey coast last month, we're getting an even sadder story about the fate of a baby North Atlantic right whale.

You may remember the story from back in October when one of the critically endangered whales was spotted dangerously entangled in fishing lines in the waters off of Sea Bright.

About a week later, officials identified the whale as one that they'd previously encountered, but they weren't able to spot it again.

During the search, though, they spotted a totally different North Atlantic right whale that was similarly tangled up in fishing lines.

NOAA Fisheries said that there are only a few hundred North Atlantic right whales known to still be in the ocean, and this past weekend's story adds another sad turn to their plight at the beginning of this year's calving season.

This past weekend, North Carolina's Cape Lookout National Seashore shared the story of the calf that was found recently washed up on an Outer Banks beach.

In a Monday (November 23rd) update, NOAA Fisheries said that a study of the baby whale didn't give them any reason to believe that the whale's death was caused by humans, and that it appears that it likely died shortly after birth.

The report goes on to say that the low numbers of North Atlantic right whales makes them, "...one of rarest marine mammals in the world".

You can click here for our previous coverage of the entangled North Atlantic right whales, and you can click here for the full report on the dead calf from NOAA Fisheries.