US Coast Guard captures video of critically endangered whales off Louisiana

U.S. Coast Guard officers captured video footage over the weekend of one of the most endangered whales on the planet, after encountering three of these creatures off the coast of Louisiana, in the Gulf of Mexico.

The images show three Rice's whales, enormous members of the baleen whale family, that have been sighted in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico, according to marine wildlife officials. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates there are likely fewer than 100 Rice's whales left in the world.

“OBSERVATION OF CRITIALLY ENDANGERED SPECIES: Venice Station presents….” Rice's Whale,” the U.S. Coast Guard Station Venice wrote on Facebook on Sunday, captioning a 16-second video showing the whales swimming nearby.

“There are believed to be fewer than 100 individuals of this species remaining,” the coast guard said.

Coast Guard officers from the agency's Venice Station spotted the whales during a Marine Living Resources Patrol, an operation intended to manage and protect fish and other marine resources, in the Mississippi Canyon, a said a spokesperson for the US Coast Guard, according to the Miami. Herald. What they initially thought was large floating debris turned out to be three Rice's whales, measuring about 25 feet long, according to the newspaper.

CBS News reached out to the U.S. Coast Guard for confirmation and more details but did not receive an immediate response.

Mississippi Canyon is a large underwater canyon located in the north-central Gulf of Mexico, south of Louisiana. Recent Coast Guard sightings in this area followed researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration over the summer. This sighting also occurred in the Gulf of Mexico, according to NOAA Fisheries.

While studying the northeastern part of the Gulf, the researchers observed the blowing of a Rice's whale in the distance and eventually moved their ship closer to the whale until it floated next to their boat in the water. Tony Martinez, the survey's chief scientist, said in a statement that being able to capture such detailed photographs of Rice's whale and observe the sounds it makes is essential to understanding the endangered species, which which helps protect the population. .

Although previous studies have primarily placed the remaining Rice's whales in the northeastern part of the Gulf of Mexico, it is believed the whales may once have been found in a broader part of the Gulf, NOAA Fisheries said.