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Naturalists aboard the "American Princess" -- a New York-based whale watch -- saw the North Atlantic right whale at around 2 p.m. Sunday, about 2.7 nautical miles east of Sea Bright, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries said.
The whale appears to be in "extremely poor condition" and has large lesions on its body, NOAA Fisheries said. There were two visible lines partially embedded around the whale's head and likely has a more complex entanglement, NOAA Fisheries said.
"While reviewing their photos after the end of the trip, naturalists from Gotham Whale observed entangling lines on the whale," NOAA Fisheries said.
"They have shared their photos, and the New England Aquarium is working on identifying the whale. At this point, the Center for Coastal Studies believes this may be a new (previously unreported) case."
Officials are waiting for good weather to document the whale's location, full entanglement configuration, and injuries from the air.
"After that," the NOAA Fisheries said, "we will determine what actions we may be able to take for this whale."
An ongoing Unusual Mortality Event (UME) was declared for North Atlantic right whales in 2017.
In June, the body of a North Atlantic right whale was found floating off the coast of Long Branch.
Over the past 3 years, 31 whales in Canada and the United States have been documented dead and, including this new entangled whale, an additional 11 have been documented alive but with serious injuries -- that's 42 whales total, according to the NOAA Fisheries.
Most of the mortalities or injuries have been attributed to either ship strikes or entanglements.
Given there are only approximately 400 individual North Atlantic right whales remaining, those 42 individuals in the UME represent at minimum 10 percent of the population, which is a significant negative impact on such a critically endangered species.
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