February 14, 2023
Virginia

Endangered right whale washes ashore in Virginia Beach

by: Jane Alvarez-Wertz | Posted: Feb 13, 2023 / Updated: Feb 14, 2023 | wavy.com

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it’s the third of its kind in a week.

We put up Drone 10 to video the animal lying on the beach between the Lesner Bridge and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel.

The North Atlantic right whale that has been identified is a 20-year-old, 43-foot male, and it can weigh up to 70 tons.

The beached right whale became a classroom Monday for about 30 students from Virginia Beach City Public Schools’ Environmental Studies program that meets nearby at the Brock Environmental Center. A few homeschooled students also came out to get some hands-on learning.

“We like to think of this as an extension of our classroom with any opportunity to create hands-on non-passive learning is important for our students to understand what’s going on in the world around us,” said teacher Chris Freeman.

Also on the beach were homeschoolers Amber and Willa Petry-Johnson, with their mother, who is also their teacher.

“We need to get the results of the necropsy,” said environmental studies student Lexi Bradshaw. “I think it will be interesting to see if any of the cases are related in any way.”

NOAA confirms the whale was not hit by a vessel or entangled in fishing gear and said this is the third whale stranded in our area in the span of a week.

“Right Whales, there are only 300 to 350 left in the whole world so when you have one wash up on shore it is really sad,” said student Molly Jones.

The North Atlantic right whale was listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1970 and is now critically endangered .

The right whale got its name due to it being the right type of whale for hunters because they moved slowly and would float after being killed.

A necropsy is expected to take place Tuesday. NOAA has not said whether there is a common reason for the strandings. They have not decided yet how the whale will be disposed of.

The right whale became stranded between Chic’s Beach and Bay Lake Beach. There is no obvious cause of death; it has no entanglement marks or ship strikes.

NOAA said North Atlantic right whales have been experiencing an Unusual Mortality Event since 2017. The species is dying faster than they can reproduce.

The City of Virginia Beach issued an advisory Jan. 30 on behalf of NOAA Fisheries Services, warning that critically endangered North Atlantic right whales had been spotted off the coast of the resort city.

The Virginia Aquarium is encouraging mariners to slow down to 10 knots through April 30, when the whales are most likely to be in this area. Entanglement in fishing gear and vessel strikes are the leading causes of serious injuries to right whales.

You can report a whale sighting to NOAA by calling 866-755-6622. There’s also a free Whale Alert App that allows you to see where whales have been spotted and add your own sighting. Download in the App Store or get it on Google Play.

Just last week, on Feb. 7, the Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Team assisted in bringing a dead humpback whale to shore in Virginia Beach near First Landing State Park. Heavy equipment was brought in to help move the whale so members of the response team could perform a necropsy to determine how the animal died. We’re still waiting on those results.