A North Atlantic right whale that had been the focus of extensive monitoring and rescue attempts over the past several months has been found dead off the coast of North Carolina.
The young male whale, catalogued as #5217 and nicknamed “Division,” had been suffering from a severe entanglement since late 2025.
Aerial survey teams with the Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute located a partial carcass roughly 25 miles offshore of Avon, North Carolina on January 27.
Only the whale’s head and flippers remained, with extensive evidence of shark scavenging. A short piece of rope still trailed from Division’s mouth — a remnant of the entangling gear that responders were unable to fully remove.
Division had been partially disentangled in December 2025, allowing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and research partners to continue tracking him via satellite telemetry.
That tracking showed the whale moving north into New England waters before turning south again, but each subsequent aerial assessment showed worsening injuries, increasing patches of whale lice, and a marked decline in overall condition. Poor weather, rough seas, and the whale’s offshore location repeatedly prevented rescue teams from attempting another disentanglement.
Earlier this month, Division’s satellite tag began transmitting in a pattern consistent with drifting rather than active swimming — an indication that he may have died before being visually located.
NOAA says there will be no attempt to recover the carcass given the dangerous offshore conditions. The gear removed from Division during December’s partial rescue has been transferred to NOAA for further analysis.
