The first North Atlantic right whale since 1888 has been sighted around the waters of the Azores. From Wildlife Extra, UK:

The right whale was formerly common on both sides of the North Atlantic. According to the IUCN Red List it is endangered and appears to be effectively extinct in the eastern North Atlantic. In the past they probably ranged from a calving ground in the Golfo de Cintra (23°N) off Western Sahara, through the Azores, Bay of Biscay, western British Isles, and the Norwegian Sea to the North Cape.

A North Atlantic right whale was freed of fishing gear late in December last year. From the Washington Post:

The team did not pull either of the fishing lines out of the whale’s mouth, because doing so could harm it. On Sunday, the group determined through an aerial sighting that the animal was free of the line, making it less likely that it would develop an infection, which in some instances can lead to death.

Smith estimated that only 50 percent of attempts to disentangle whales succeed.

Federal officials have been crafting new fishing gear regulations in an effort to reduce the number of such entanglement incidents. Beginning in April, all East Coast fisheries that use trap pots will have to use sinking lines that lie on the sea floor, rather than float in the water. “That’s going to be a major risk reduction,” said David Gouveia, marine mammal program coordinator for NOAA Fisheries.

The government is also now requiring “weak links” in the sink gill nets used to catch ground fish, so that if a whale runs into the net it will break rather than trap the animal. Gouveia described the rules as “a two-pronged approach” aimed at addressing entanglements, adding that NOAA has spent more than $9 million on “buyback programs” so fisherman can modify their gear.

Credit for above : Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission under NOAA Permit #932-1489)

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