Humpback Whale Freed From Fishing Line—but Many Sea Creatures Aren’t So Lucky
Source: Take Part
Samantha Cowan
After days of struggling and swimming more than 100 miles in the Pacific Ocean, a humpback whale finally regained its freedom after rescuers successfully released it from hundreds of feet of fishing line.
Although the rescue mission took two days, the whale had been battling what appeared to be nylon rope since the beginning of the week. It was first spotted entangled in fishing line off the Santa Barbara, California, coast, some 75 miles north of Los Angeles, before being seen again in Orange County on Friday. Observers told CBS Los Angeles the whale had clearly been in distress as it moved slowly, dragging the line in its mouth and behind it. After a two-day rescue mission, the marine mammal was successfully freed in San Diego on Saturday.
Officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and SeaWorld combined forces to remove the fishing gear, which included buoys and possibly lobster pots.
NOAA official Justin Viezbicke told The Associated Press that the organization has responded to as many as 50 entanglements since the start of the year, an uptick it believes could be caused by warming ocean waters bringing whales closer to shore, where they’re more likely to encounter fishing gear.
FULL story at link.
RELATED: Rescuers Struggle to Free Blue Whale Caught in California Fishing Line: http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/09/05/blue-whale
Humpback whale. (Photo: Rodrigo Buendia/Getty Images)
Read more: http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/11/01/humpback-whale-fishing-line
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Entangled whale off San Diego freed: Team helps humpback with heavy load in tow
November 1, 2015
4:49 PM MST
A humpback whale that was entangled in fishing line attached to lobster pots was spotted along the coast of San Diego this weekend. The whale was freed from towing one heavy load by rescuers who spent hours relentlessly pursuing this whale, who wanted nothing to do with them. This is a feel-good story about people saving a stranded whale, which is the opposite of some of the headlines lately reporting elephants being poisoned and hunters killing any majestic animal that crosses their path in the name of sports.
A team from SeaWorld took on the tedious task of trying to get close enough to the whale to cut away the 230 feet off rope wrapped around the sea creature’s mouth, tail and fins. Everything came together just off the coast of California near La Jolla Cove in San Diego. This is where the rescue team got close enough to the humpback and was able to work long enough to free it from an entangled mess. They were the second team to try and rescue this 50-foot whale, according to CBS Local News on October 31.
It was Friday afternoon when the adult whale was first spotted with what looked like rope and lobster traps wrapped around the whale from mouth to tail. The whale was about 45 miles south of Los Angeles at that time. This is when a team from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration attempted to rescue the whale from its bondage, but they only managed to cut 100 feet of rope away when the whale headed for deeper water after getting spooked.
Then it surfaced again 60 miles down the coast near San Diego and this is where the deed was successfully completed. This time it was a team from SeaWorld who took on the task. They got close enough to the whale to cut the rope, with this good deed of freeing the whale taking about three hours, reports ABC News.
More:
http://www.examiner.com/article/entangled-whale-off-san-diego-freed-team-helps-humpback-with-heavy-load-tow
