Federal scientists say an endangered North Atlantic right whale found dead on a Massachusetts shoreline last winter suffered fatal injuries from being chronically entangled in lobster fishing gear.
NOAA Fisheries issued a final necropsy report Wednesday saying that a rope “deeply embedded in the tail” of the dead whale “is consistent with the rope used in Maine state water trap/bouy lines.”
Officials said the finding came after consultation with New England state resource management partners who also viewed the gear, and that full results of the necropsy are forthcoming.
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NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement also continues to investigate the case.F
