Some encouraging news about North Atlantic Right Whales.
On social media, federal Fisheries and Oceans Minister Dominic LeBlanc says his department has confirmed the presence of 12 whales in an area of the Gulf of St. Lawrence already closed to fishing.
Last weekend, two whales were spotted in the Gulf off the coast of New Brunswick.
In an effort to protect the endangered mammals, the department temporarily closed the snow crab and lobster fisheries this week in an area off the Acadian Peninsula.
Strict new regulations were introduced by the federal government last year after 18 Right Whales died in the Gulf and North Atlantic mostly from striking vessels and getting entangled in fishing gear.