2 more North Atlantic right whales found dead, pushing the year's toll to 8

Two more North Atlantic right whales have been found dead in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the seventh and eighth whales to be found dead in Canadian waters this year.

The body of a male right whalewas spotteddrifting in the Gulf of St. Lawrence during an aerial surveillance flight, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada said Friday.

The whale was sighted Thursday afternoon west of Magdalen Island.

A necropsy will take place Sunday in Grand-tang, Que.

The other dead whale, originally sighted last month off Glace Bay, N.S., was identified as a right whale Friday. The carcass was sighted on June 24 by a fish harvester, but the Fisheries Department was notable to confirmwhat it was until Friday.

"It's unfortunate that we didn't know sooner that it had been a right whale, but it's very important that we know now what it was," said Tonya Wimmer,executive director of the Marine Animal Response Society.

The whale identified Friday will not have a necropsy because its carcass has not been located.

"At the moment, sadly, that animal is just a lost carcass," Wimmer said.

It is not known where or how either whale died, the release said.

The departmentwouldnot make a spokesperson available Friday afternoon for an interview.

Only about 400 of the whales remain.

Ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear have been identified or suspected in the deaths of other North Atlantic right whales in recent years.

"Everyone kind of hopes every time we happen to have a few days without anything that the incident is over, but sadly that doesn't seem to be the case at the moment," Wimmer said.