Entangled humpback whale in Southern California freed by NOAA Fisheries-led response team
by NOAA Fisheries 28 Jul 2024 15:55 PDT
The entangled humpback whale slapping its tail minutes before it finally freed itself from fishing gear. Photo taken under NOAA MMHSRP Permit #24359 © NOAA Fisheries
A NOAA Fisheries-led large whale entanglement response team successfully removed rope and buoys from an entangled sub-adult humpback whale off the coast of Orange County on Friday, July 19.
The humpback was first spotted by whale watching vessels on Saturday, July 13 off Palos Verdes. Over the course of six days, response teams encountered the whale several times, including as far south as Dana Point. The whale was evasive and skittish, making it difficult to cut the rope wrapped over the humpback's tail.
Around 2pm Friday, the team was able to cut a section of twisted blue rope from the whale's left tail fluke. The team then backed off the stressed animal while keeping it in sight, hoping the whale could disentangle itself from the loosened line. After 45 minutes of breaching and tail slapping, the whale was able to shake off the gear, which included 5 to 10 feet of rope and two buoys. The gear was collected, but the source has yet to be identified.
"We are incredibly thankful to the whale watch community and private boaters who initially reported the entanglement and stayed with the whale until our teams could respond," said Justin Greenman, the Assistant Stranding Network Coordinator with the NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region.
After the initial sighting of the entangled humpback whale July 13, it was spotted again the following day around 6:30pm by a whale watching vessel a couple miles offshore between Newport Beach and Dana Point. The entanglement response team attempted to free the whale on Monday, July 15, but it was actively breaching and dangerous to approach before the wind picked up and forced rescue vessels off of the water. The team continued rescue attempts on Tuesday and Wednesday.
On Thursday, July 18, response teams were able to get close to the whale and collected underwater images that showed the trailing line and buoys further tightened under the whales' fluke. Crews attempted to cut the line but the whale remained evasive with the fluke/gear almost always staying underwater and out of reach.
Teams were back on the water Friday morning and were finally able to free the humpback whale in the early afternoon. After several hours of patiently tracking the whale with an aerial drone and slowly getting closer, the team used a specialized knife on the end of a carbon fiber pole to make the cut. Large whale entanglement response is dangerous work that requires years of training and is authorized under a permit issued to the NOAA Fisheries Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program.
Large whale entanglement in commercial fishing gear off the U.S. West Coast has been identified as an issue of concern by NOAA Fisheries because of the potential impacts to both large whales (individually and at a stock/population level) and the commercial fishing industry. Large whales entangled in gear may be injured and/or impaired, which could affect the ability of individuals to survive and a population's ability to recover. NOAA Fisheries is convening the West Coast Take Reduction Team in 2025 to develop recommendations for reducing humpback whale entanglements in pot fisheries.
NOAA Fisheries would like to thank the entire response team, including Entangled Whale Response Orange County (EWROC), Pacific Marine Mammal Center (PMMC), the crew of the vessel "Sycamore" (Tom Hale) and the whale watch community for providing resources, boats, people and contributing to the overall team effort that ended with completely freeing this entangled humpback. This event required a large amount of patience and collaboration from everyone involved, pulling together as a team. This positive outcome would not have been possible without all of you.
If you see an entangled marine mammal, please report it to the Entanglement Reporting Hotline 1-877-SOS-WHAL or 1-877-767-9425 and the U.S. Coast Guard on VHF Ch. 16.
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