USA TODAY • February 15, 2024
At least seven endangered whales have been found dead or seriously injured, or gone missing since mid-December, including five North Atlantic right whales on the Atlantic Coast. An examination of the entangling rope found on a right whale on Martha's Vineyard triggered an announcement from the National Marine Fisheries Service on Wednesday, which said it had identified the rope as gear belonging to a crab pot or lobster pot in Maine state waters. The finding on the Maine gear was the second time in four months that evidence surfaced of the critically endangered whales off Maine's coast. Right whales are on the verge of extinction.