The recent series of humpback whale strandings further highlight the increasing mortality rates for the species along the East Coast of the United States. The rise in strandings has been classified as unusual mortality events since 2016. While 26 stranded humpback whales had be recorded along the Atlantic Coast last year, there have already been 19 until now for 2020. One hope is that humpback seem to have become more plentiful in the area, “so there's a chance the increase in mortalities is proportional to their abundance.”
Especially New York has experienced more incidents than any other state for the last couple of years. Only this month, two more have been discovered on Long Island. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries (NOAA) assumes that the high abundance of menhaden (the humpbacks’ favorite food) in the area in combination with the busy marine traffic could be the main cause for the hotspot. “And given the number of people opting for outdoor activities because of the pandemic, the number of boaters might be even greater than usual this summer”.
Boaters are often not aware that there are whales in the area. Ship strikes, however, are one of the main threats to the species, as collision even with small boats can lead to lethal propeller cuts or ruptured organs. Additional threats pose entanglement in fishing gear, stress induced by whale watching tours and other vessel-based harassment. NOAA, therefore, aspires to increase the awareness about whale prevalence in the area and to create guidelines on how to behave around the marine mammals.
The full report can be found here: https://www.easthamptonstar.com/villages-outdoors/2020729/humpback-deaths-increase-northeast-coastline
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