In a news release issued Wednesday, Chief Mike Sack says band council took the action "with conservation as our foremost concern."

The calf and its mother, right whale #3560, were first spotted in mid-December 2019.

The group says it's the first calf for the mother, which is known only as Catalog No. 3560.

The group is asking both countries to focus specifically on preventing ship strikes and fishing gear entanglement.

The area near Grand Manan Island has been closed to all fixed-gear fisheries, DFO announced in a tweet on Thursday.

The whale was seen Tuesday 90 kilometres northwest of Etang du Nord harbour.

The department says the whale is moving into waters east of Nova Scotia and the rescue team is determining the best course of action.

Amy Knowlton, a scientist with the New England Aquarium in Boston, calls the sightings of the young whales encouraging news.

On Friday, Transport Canada handed penalties of $7,800.

The department said Tuesday it is working to confirm whether this is yet another whale that died, or the same dead animal that was originally seen on June 24 in the same area.