FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Tanya L. Grady
508.487.3622 Ext. 103
tgrady@coastalstudies.org

Humpback Freed But Severely Injured

On Wednesday, the 25 to 30 foot animal was first spotted entangled by a recreational boater on February 25, which reported the entanglement to the U.S. Coast Guard. At the same time, NOAA officials were retrieving a telemetry buoy that had been shed from an entangled right whale in the area. NOAA responded, evaluated the condition of whale, and attached the telemetry buoy to the entangled humpback. The whale was anchored in the middle of major U.S. shipping lanes. U.S. Coast Guard vessels from NY and NJ set up a security zone around the anchored whale to prevent possible ship-strike, and the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Penobscot Bay protected the animal overnight and remained with the whale until rescuers from PCCS could arrive.

The three-man rescue team included trained NOAA and PCCS disentanglement responders. The team was supported by the NOAA research vessel Nauvoo from the agency's laboratory at Sandy Hook New Jersey, and the U.S. Coast Guard. All were on scene with the whale at 11:00 a.m. The operation was especially difficult for rescuers since the gear anchoring the animal was not accessible near the surface of the water. The animal appeared to be anchored to the seafloor by gear embedded in its tail and could only raise its head to the surface. After several hours of effort, the team successfully removed the gear using specialized disentanglement tools, allowing the animal to swim away.

The PCCS Humpback Whale Studies Program has monitored the frequency of humpback whale entanglement off New England based on the injuries that entanglements produce. Of the approximately 900 whales in the Gulf of Maine humpback whale population, more than half have experienced an entanglement in their lifetime and 8-25% acquire new entanglement scars annually. This research also indicates that less than 10% of humpback whale entanglements are actually witnessed and reported.

"This whale was very lucky to have been found and reported. It had sustained substantial injuries from its ordeal, but we hope that it will stand a better chance of survival now that the gear has been removed," said Scott Landry, of PCCS Marine Animal Disentanglement Program. "What we learn from this whale will help us prevent other entanglements."

NOAA authorizes disentanglement activities in the United States. PCCS maintains an on-call fulltime primary response disentanglement team on Cape Cod that is prepared to travel as needed throughout the Network's rage which includes the entire Atlantic Coast of the United States. PCCS also provides response coordination and technical services such as equipment development and distribution, satellite telemetry, and data management. PCCS works closely with NOAA to respond to reports of entangled whales and operates under a federal permit to disentangle marine animals.

Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies (PCCS) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving marine mammals and ecosystems in the Gulf of Maine through research, education, public policy initiatives, and management strategies. PCCS played a key role in the federal designation of Stellwagen Bank as a national marine sanctuary and Cape Cod Bay as a critical habitat for the North Atlantic right whale.