Photo: The Canadian Press

A twin otter aircraft used by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans is seen in Moncton, N.B. on Wednesday, May 30, 2018.

There are many eyes in the sky this summer off Canada's East Coast as Fisheries and Oceans and Transport Canada conduct aerial surveys to help detect and protect endangered North Atlantic right whales.

Five aircraft are being used to make daily flights over the Bay of Fundy, the Scotian Shelf, the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the southern coast of Newfoundland.

The increased measures follow the deaths of 18 North Atlantic right whales in Canadian and U.S. waters last year, mainly due to collisions with ships or entanglements in fishing gear.

There are believed to be fewer than 450 of the whales remaining and, of those, there are only about 100 breeding females.

Jean-Francois Gosselin, a biologist with the Fisheries Department, says so far this year they have spotted 27 right whales off the East Coast.

Six fishing areas in the Gulf of St. Lawrence were closed to several fisheries as of May 22, including snow crab, rock crab and lobster.

The department is enforcing a static closure zone in the Gulf of St. Lawrence along New Brunswick's northern coast until June 30.