National Report on Large Whale Entanglements Confirmed in the United States in 2023

In 2023, there were 64 confirmed entangled large whales documented along the coasts of the United States. Sixty-one cases (95 percent) involved live animals, and three cases involved animals that were dead (floating) when initially reported. These cases represent unique individual whales and do not represent multiple reports of the same individual. The 64 confirmed cases in 2023 is lower than the average annual number of confirmed entanglements from 2007–2022 (n=71.8 ± 20.5; average ± one standard deviation).