Dead right whale found, necropsy Friday on Miscou Island

Anecropsy will be conducted Friday on thedead north Atlantic right whale that was seen drifting off Quebec'sGasp coast earlier this week.

The whale, identified as a nine-year-old male named Wolverine, was well-known to the research community. The whale was identified bythree characteristic scars on itstail stock.

The scars were the result of a ship strike during the whale's first few years. It had also survived three entanglements in fishing gear.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada saidthe Canadian Coast Guard vessel CCGS A. LeBlancdiscovered the whale Wednesday. Ithas since been towed and secured just off Miscou Island. It will be towed to shore before thenecropsy.

The whale was observed during an aerial surveillance flightby researchers from the U.S.-basedNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrationin an area that's been closed to non-tended fixed-gear fishing since May 17.

North Atlantic right whales returned to Canadian waters early this year. They were spotted via surveillance planes as early as mid-May.

It is not known when orwhere the whale died or the cause of the death. It will be several months before the results are known following thenecropsy.

Tonya Wimmer, executive director of the Marine Animal Response Society in Halifax, said doing the necropsy isimportant.

"The population is so small and really every animal at this stage does count. So it is pretty heartbreaking even if it is just one animal," said Wimmer.

First death in 2019

This is the first right whale death in Canadian waters in since 2017. There were none in 2018 after Ottawa implemented tough protective measures.

Those measures came into effectafter18 right whale deaths in 2017,12 of which occurredin Canadian waters.

The federal government eased restrictions aimed at protecting north Atlantic right whales this year, based on data from 2018.

The area out of bounds to fishermen was reduced to a third of what it was the year before, and restrictions nolonger automatically apply to shallower waters where lobster arefished.

The area where speeding restrictions are in place is also slightly smaller.

Wimmer said until thenecropsy is completed and more information is known, they can't even speculate on the cause.

There are a little more than400 north Atlantic right whales left in the world.