A stranded whale response team tends to a North Atlantic right whale calf that was discovered dead off the coast of a barrier island off North Carolina on Friday.
(CNN) -
A North Atlantic right whale calf was found dead Friday off the coast of a barrier island off North Carolina, according to authorities.
The right whale is one of the rarest marine mammals in the world, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with only about 400 of them left.
The newborn male was found on the beach of the North Core Banks, part of the Cape Lookout National Seashore.
Preliminary reports indicate that the animal died during or shortly after birth, according to NOAA.
Scientists performed a necropsy on the animal and took DNA samples to find the calf's mother.
This is the beginning of the right whale calving season, which starts in mid-November and runs through mid-April.
NOAA called this death a "devastating" start to the season.
"Every new right whale calf brings so much hope for this critically endangered species and losses like this have a substantial impact on its recovery," NOAA said in a news release Monday.
"Its population has experienced a significant decline and high mortality among youth and adults in recent years."
What caused the whale to die?
There was no evidence of human interaction as a factor in the death of the calf, according to NOAA.
This species of whale has experienced an unusual mortality event for the past three years, according to NOAA.
Since 2017, the organization has documented at least 32 whales killed and 13 seriously injured.
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"This represents more than 10 percent of the remaining population," according to a NOAA press release.
The leading cause of whale deaths and injuries involves human interaction, including boat collisions and entanglement in fishing nets.
NOAA issued a press release Monday, the same day the calf's death was announced, warning boaters to be vigilant as the whales migrate along the Atlantic coast.
The organization urges boaters to be vigilant, slow down and give these endangered whales plenty of room.
They also ask all fishermen to remove their unused equipment from the ocean to help avoid entanglement, according to the statement.
Decrease in the female population
The calving season is extremely important for the species to regain its population.
The female right whale population is declining due to boat entanglements and strikes, according to NOAA.
There are only about 100 females left.
Right whales don't reach reproductive maturity until they are 10 years old, according to Oceana, a nonprofit ocean advocacy group.
And they typically only produce one young after a one-year pregnancy every three to five years.
But NOAA has noted that now, on average, females have young every six to 10 years.
One of the reasons biologists believe females are calving less often, according to lNOAA, is the added stress that fishing net incidents place on whales.
There were only 22 births, which is about a third of the average annual birth rate, in the last three calving seasons, according to NOAA.
In an Oceana report last year, researchers warned that the species will soon go extinct, unless something is done to save it.
Whales