Overview
- A Center for Coastal Studies Marine Animal Entanglement Response team cut ropes from a young humpback in Stellwagen Bank using a hook-shaped knife on a 30-foot pole and left the animal under observation with responders saying it is likely to recover.
- On Australia’s New South Wales south coast, NPWS, Marine Rescue NSW and ORRCA removed 46 meters of line, two buoys and about 13 kilograms of debris from a humpback near Batemans Bay and reported the whale regained more natural movement.
- A North Atlantic right whale was seen entangled in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and search teams have not relocated it, with bad weather hampering efforts and plans to attach a satellite tag to the fishing gear if the whale is re-sighted to enable tracking.
- Both rescues depended on rapid public reports and multi-agency coordination that included local rescuers, NOAA-linked hotlines, coast guards and volunteer responders standing by to assist.
- Entanglement is a leading cause of injury and death for whales, it often leaves deep wounds and repeated harm, and disentanglement work requires federal permits, specialized teams and sometimes technological tools to monitor animals until weather allows safe intervention.