A North Atlantic right whale entangled in fishing gear has been spotted off New Brunswick’s east coast near Shippagan.
Officials with the federal Fisheries Department say the five-year-old male was last seen Monday by Canadian and American observers aboard a surveillance aircraft flying over the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Department staff and marine mammal rescue groups were trying to find the whale on Tuesday.
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Federal officials say the plan is to attach a satellite tag to the entangled gear to track the whale.
And if weather and sea conditions allow, an attempt will be made to remove the gear from the critically endangered animal, known as No. 5192.
The population of these massive mammals is less than 400, though their numbers have been slowly increasing since 2020.
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