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A 9-year-old male right whale lays dead on a beach on Miscou Island in New Brunswick after being towed onto the shore the night before on June 7, 2019. A necropsy took place later that day. This North Atlantic right whale - among the most endangered species on the planet - was known by researchers as Wolverine, for three propeller cuts on its tailstock that reminded them of the trio of blades used by the comic book character of the same name. In its short life of nine years, journeying through thousands of miles of dense fishing grounds, the whale had endured at least one vessel strike and three entanglements in fishing gear. Now, Wolverine was decomposing on a grassy beach at the northernmost tip of New Brunswicks Acadian peninsula, its large, black fins inert in the salty air, its wide fluke tangled in red rope that the Canadian Coast Guard used to haul its carcass in from the frigid waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The death of even one of the mammals poses a grave threat to the species, given how few remain. But almost as notable is that Wolverine was here at all. Until recently, right whales were seldom seen this far north. Now about a third of the species regularly comes to feed in these frigid waters. It has proved to be a very dangerous migration. (Photo by Nathan Klima for The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
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