VIRGINIA - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has responded to a young North Atlantic right whale found dead and washed up on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.
NOAA says the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center notified them of the dead whale on a barrier island off Virginia on Feb. 10. According to NOAA, the whale was confirmed to be a three-year-old female and the 2023 calf of right whale “Porcia.”
NOAA did not specify if the barrier island was off of Accomack or Northampton County. WBOC reached out to NOAA for more information but have not yet received a response.
Biologists say the whale was found in a remote area with limited access, and an aerial survey was required to locate and photograph the carcass. NOAA Fisheries, along with the Marine Mammal Stranding Network, is working to examine and necropsy the whale despite the “logistically challenging” location.
A dead North Atlantic right whale stranded on a barrier island off Virginia. The whale has been identified as a 3-year-old female, the 2023 calf of right whale #3293 “Porcia.” Credit: The Nature Conservancy, taken under NOAA permit #24359.
The Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center says tissue samples and diagnostics have been collected for analysis, and a determination of cause of death remains pending.
The North Atlantic right whale is one of the most endangered large whale species on the planet, according to NOAA. In 2025, it was estimated that there were 384 North Atlantic right whales alive at the beginning of 2024. Starting in 2017, NOAA says they began seeing elevated deaths in the species, calling it an "Unusual Mortality Event.” The young whale found off Virginia’s Eastern Shore is the 43rd death recorded in that ongoing mortality event, according to NOAA.