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Search continues for entangled right whale spotted in the Bay of Fundy

Aug 1, 2018 | 12:29 PM

GRAND MANAN, N.B. — A day after heavy fog forced searchers to retreat back to shore, the hunt for an entangled North Atlantic right whale resumed Wednesday in the Bay of Fundy.

The whale, identified as an adult male, was seen Monday morning with an orange buoy trailing behind it.

Jerry Conway of the Campobello Whale Rescue Team says a Department of Fisheries and Oceans aircraft surveyed the Bay of Fundy from above Wednesday.

The department also sent a boat out of Westport, N.S., and the Campobello rescue team is on standby to disentangle the endangered mammal if it’s found.

Conway says there is still fog out on the water and they will assess whether or not the search will continue Thursday.

There were 18 recorded North Atlantic right whale deaths in Canadian and U.S. waters last year — most of them in the Gulf of St. Lawrence — mainly due to collisions with ships or entanglements in fishing gear.

There are believed to be fewer than 450 of the whales remaining and, of those, there are only about 100 breeding females.

The Canadian Press