FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Release 4.3

Contact: Tanya Grady, 508-247-7665, tgrady@coastalstudies.org

PCCS Rescues Humpback Whale

The entangled whale was reported by the Dolphin 8 whale watch vessel, which stood by the animal until the PCCS team arrived on the scene aboard the R/V Ibis.

PCCS rescuers faced strong winds and rough seas, with the weather forecast calling for gale force winds out of the east, the team moved quickly once they reached the whale north of Race Point in Provincetown. The whale was entangled with line and a buoy, which tightly wrapped the base of its tail. The team attached a series of buoys to the entanglement which pulled all of the gear free. Scarring indicates that the whale was likely entangled for some time before it was discovered. It is unknown where and when the whale initially became entangled, but the gear was recovered and will be turned over to NOAA for analysis.

"The whale would not have been disentangled with out the help of the whale watch boat. We are very grateful to the captain, crew and passengers," said Scott Landry, director of the response program. "We observed some pretty nasty wounds around the flukes of the whale, but because the whale watch boat acted quickly, we believe this animal has a better chance at survival now."

Photographic identification data was taken on the scene and will be analyzed by the Humpback Studies Program at PCCS. Photo-Id data will be matched against existing profiles in the Gulf of Maine population catalogue, which PCCS curates. PCCS scientists will now attempt to match this whale to a known whale in the system, hopefully identifying not only the whale, but also the time frame of the entanglement. The program has monitored the frequency of humpback whale entanglements 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% aquire new entanglement scars annually. This research also indicates that less than 10% of humpback whale entanglements are actually witnessed and reported.

This is the third report of an entangled humpback whale since January along the East Coast of the U.S. Of these cases, two have been successfully disentangled including the disentanglement event yesterday and the February disentanglement operation off the New Jersey coast.

PCCS maintains an on-call fulltime primary response disentanglement team on Cape Cod that is prepared to travel as needed throughout 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. NOAA authorizes disentanglement activities in the United States. To report an entanglement, please call the PCCS Marine Animal Entanglement Hotline, 1-800-900-3622.

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