Snow Cone's return to Canadian waters spurs new efforts to free entangled North Atlantic right whale

The return of an entangled North Atlantic right whale to Canadian waters has spurred new enthusiasm, concern, and urgency about what should be done next.

The North Atlantic right whale, nicknamed Snow Cone, was spotted off the coast of New Brunswick on Saturday.

This marks her first sighting in Canadian waters since Aug. 4, 2021. Snow Cone was last seen off the coast of Massachusetts on April 27.

“It’s an exciting thing to know Snow Cone made it back to Canadian waters for the summer feeding time,” said Sean Brillant, a senior conservation biologist with the Canadian Wildlife Foundation. “It’s discouraging to find out she’s still entangled and has rope coming out of her mouth and along her body.”

Snow Cone was first discovered to be caught in fishing gear in March 2021.

Brillant said it was concerning that Snow Cone’s calf, born this past winter, wasn’t spotted this past weekend.

“Calves this young usually don’t leave their mothers,” said Brillant. “There is a chance that it was nearby and was missed by the surveillance team. There is a chance it was off doing its own thing perhaps. But it’s a dangerous world out there for right whales and (Snow Cone) did lose a calf to a ship strike the year previous. We’re hoping that this isn’t also bad news.”

With Snow Cone’s Canadian return, fresh discussions have begun about what responders may be able to do to help remove the remaining fishing gear.

“We worked on Snow Cone three times last year and we were able to shorten the rope up all three times,” said Mackie Greene, director of the Campobello Whale Rescue Program.

The remaining gear is attached to Snow Cone’s mouth, or baleen.

“That’s the hardest area of a whale to get anywhere near,” said Greene.

Responders have discussed the idea of sedating Snow Cone, slowing her down long enough in order to get close.

“That’s something we’ve never done in Canada but it has been tried in the States, so that might be a possibility,” said Greene.

Any such exercise would be difficult, and potentially dangerous for both the animal and responders.

“There will definitely be quite a discussion and not just something we’ll decide,” said Greene. “It will be with the whole network of responders from the States and Canada to figure out the best course of action.”

‘BRINK OF EXTINCTION’

There are an estimated 336 North Atlantic right whales left in the ocean, a population drop of about 8 per cent since 2019.

Earlier this year, the Canadian government announced seasonal and temporary fishing area closures in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Bay of Fundy as part of efforts to protect North Atlantic right whale populations.

Earlier this month, two separate U.S. court decisions found in favour of legal battles forged by whale conservationists. The first decision on July 8 found the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) hadn’t done enough to protect North Atlantic right whales from entanglements. The second decision on July 12 reinstated a seasonal ban on lobster fishing with vertical lines off the coast of Maine.

“This animal is on the brink of extinction,” said Brillant. “It’s only going to survive if fisheries in Canada and the U.S. act to reduce the risks that fishing poses to these animals.”

“Certainly things seem to be improving, but we don’t always know what’s going on out there and we need to keep up the effort to prevent these terrible things from happening.”

As for Snow Cone, her stamina in the sea has become a thing of legend in both countries.

“She goes to these heroic efforts and had another calf this past year while she was entangled,” said Brillant. “She’s a survivor, it seems.”