Two more endangered right whales found dead in Gulf of St. Lawrence

Canadian officials said Tuesday that two more North Atlantic right whales have died, a major loss for the endangered species.

Four right whales have been found dead in the Gulf of St. Lawrence this month alone.

Specialists are trying to determine how the whale, which was found June 20, died.

“It is too early to report on preliminary findings,” officials from Fisheries and Oceans Canada said in a statement. “Necropsies take time and are highly demanding on everyone involved.”

The whales were found in the Gulf of St. Lawrence near the Acadian Peninsula in New Brunswick and west of the Magdalen Islands in Quebec.

Specialists who performed a necropsy on the first whale found dead determined “there was no evidence of recent fishing gear entanglement or recent vessel strike.”