Thousands of marine animals die every year due to vessel strikes, and species that are endangered or threatened are certainly not spared. On March 30, 2024, another endangered right whale was found deceased in the Atlantic Ocean from injuries consistent with blunt force trauma from a vessel strike. The whale, which is one of approximately 360 individuals remaining and one of only approximately 70 reproductively active females, was identifed as Catalog #1950. Catalog #1950 was the mother of a 14-week-old calf who is also now missing and not expected to survive as a result of losing its mother. "If her calf survived the traumatic event that killed #1950, it is still too young to carry on without her care. So, it is a double loss," said the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Committee (FWC) in their official announcement made yesterday. "Right whales are a long-lived species that reproduce slowly. The loss of even one female right whale causes a ripple effect through the population that will impact recovery and conservation efforts for decades. Each female takes her remaining calving potential with her in death, as well as all the calving potential of her unrealized female calves, and their subsequent calves, and so on." Catalog #1950's death is not the first right whale death of the year attributed to a vessel strike, however, her recent death reignited the conversations of how humans can better coexist with wildlife. According to a study on Statistica, Florida has the highest number of registered recreational boating vessels in the states--with over a million boats registered and sharing the waterways with wildlife. In Florida alone, hundreds of manatees--another endangered species--suffer from boat vessel strikes every year, many of which are fatal. It is suggested that upwards of 25% of manatee deaths in Florida are contributed to vessel strikes and it is increasingly rare for manatees to reach late adulthood without experiencing multiple vessel strikes. ![]() The carcass of dead, female North Atlantic right whale #1950 was towed and brought ashore in Virginia for necropsy on April 2, 2024. Necropsy (animal autopsy) experts examine the whale at the landing site, before using the heavy black towing line to bring it further out of the water. Photo taken by Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center, under NOAA Permit #24359. The FWC's right whale press release has recieved a lot of attention as many commenters call for action to prevent further loss of wildlife due to vessel strikes. "So what is NOAA fisheries doing about this? Isn’t it time to put speed limits and more monitoring in place?" said one commenter on the FWC's Facebook post. While the FWC already enforces several boating regulations in the state, suggestions of tagging more animals with beacons to alert boaters of their presence, enforcing additional watercraft speed limits, and implementing some way to enclose boat propellers have been among the ideas mentioned. "Is anything ever going to be done about these vessel strikes repeatedly happening? The average citizen gets even close to one of these whales in a boat or kayak…they will be fined (heavily) before you can blink an eye. But nothing is 'really' being done in regards to their biggest threats which are all these large vessels," another commenter wrote. According to the FWC's page on boating regulations, currently, "boaters who accidentally strike a manatee are urged to report the strike to the FWC and may not be subject to prosecution, provided they were operating in accordance with any applicable vessel speed restrictions at the time of the strike." At this point, it is unclear if the FWC or other governing entities will enforce new or stricter regulations for commercial and recreational boaters, but until then, many will continue calling for greater action through platforms like this petition with nearly 50,000 signatures to protect Florida manatees on Change.org and through organizations like Save the Manatee Club.
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