The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission recently reported that an endangered North Atlantic right whale, identified as "Snow Cone," was seen swimming beside a newborn calf despite being caught in fishing line for months, according to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) press release.
Snow Cone appears to have given birth while the rope was entangled in the left side of her mouth, which cannot be safely removed after trained disentanglement responders determined that attempting to remove or reduce the rope would be too dangerous in the presence of her newborn calf.
"NOAA scientists were surprised and concerned that Snow Cone gave birth while being entangled in fishing rope,” according to the NOAA press release.
Right whale calves typically swim closely to their mothers, making it extremely difficult for responders to approach safely.
Snow Cone, who was first seen entangled and dragging a thick rope in March 2021, was most likely entangled during her pregnancy.
Although Snow Cone has been entangled for months, she has migrated over 1,300 miles with other right whales to their summer feeding areas in the seas near Canada.
She subsequently returned to the calving area off the coastlines of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and northern Florida, completing the annual right whale migration.
The two whales are only the second confirmed mother-calf pair for the 2021–2022 right whale calving season. Snow Cone's first known calf was killed following a vessel strike last year.
Snow Cone and her newborn calf will continue to be monitored by NOAA Fisheries and partners.
