Mission to untangle female right whale highlights species' precarious plight

Removing a thick fishing rope from a highly fertile whale’s jaw was a priority for scientists who fear the species may be in terminal decline

Oliver Milman in New York

Sun 22 Apr 2018 07.00 BSTLast modified on Sun 22 Apr 2018 21.27 BST

A mission to disentangle a particularly important North Atlantic right whale from a thick rope wrapped around its jaw has proved a partial success, amid growing fears that the endangered species is approaching a terminal decline.

The individual female whale, known as Kleenex, is considered one of the most productive North Atlantic right whales left in existence, having given birth to eight calves. Its condition has deteriorated, however, since it was spotted off the coast of Delaware in 2014 with a thick fishing rope wrapped around its head and upper jaw.

Conservationists, aware that the right whale population has dropped alarmingly due to a spike in deaths and a birth drought, attempted to remove the rope last week, after Kleenex was seen near the Massachusetts coast. A pursuing team used a crossbow to fire a bolt with razor blades attached at the rope, but did not successfully sever it.

“The line was damaged and then the whale became more evasive and the weather got worse, so that was our best go at it,” said Bob Lynch, of conservation group Center for Coastal Studies, who was part of the rescue team.

Continued