See the numbers, charts, maps. The endangered marine mammal was spotted off Provincetown with a rope trailing behind. The whale was last seen two weeks ago with a greenish-blue rope line trailing behind her. They are slow swimmers, float after death and supplied whalers with large amounts of oil and baleen plates. North Atlantic right whales are the most endangered whale in the world, with fewer than 350 alive today.
Many deaths are due to entanglements or collisions with ships.
Two days later researchers saw Calvin again and although she was behaving normally, the whale was still entangled. The Coast Guard sent a helicopter from Otis Air Force Base to assist. The rope does not seem to be tightly wrapped, as chafing and raw areas on the skin of the whale were not observed, said Joanne Jarzobski, a spokeswoman for the Center for Coastal Studies. The entanglement appears to be minor. However, with further assessment and monitoring, we may find otherwise and decide to cut the single wrap of line around the body, in order to prevent what could become a life-threatening situation.