Marine experts attempted to untangle a humpback whale that was stuck in a commercial fishing line off the coast of Laguna Beach in California. The case is one of many incidents this year.
Rescuers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) were tracking the humpback whale while figuring out a safe way to free the marine animal from the deadly hazard it was stuck in.
The humpback whale, which was estimated to be about 30 to 50 feet long, was first spotted on Oct. 30 off Newport Beach. A whale-watching boat noticed that the marine animal was in distress and was swimming near the surface. The whale was trailing some sort of nylon rope which is commonly used in connecting surface buoys to seabed lobster pots.
Authorities spent hours following the whale in an attempt to untangle it from the fishing line, but the humpback whale kept trying to leap or dive out of sight, media reports say.
The group of experts managed to cut away about 150 feet of the fishing line, but the whale kept eluding the rescuers throughout the operation. It swam away off La Jolla Cove in San Diego, about 65 miles south of the original location. This time, the rescuers tried to use underwater cameras to see how badly the marine animal's mouth was entwined with the nylon rope.
Justin Viezbicke, NOAA whale rescue expert, said that the rope was embedded in the corner of the animal's mouth, and it was coming under its pectoral fin, the part of the whale that helps it swim. He said that one line went over the tail, one came under the tail and there was a big knot about 15 feet behind the animal.
Viezbicke said that the whale's situation was pretty bad. Because of the entanglement, the whale was having trouble moving its tail.
In the east coast, rescuers sometimes used sedative darts on whales to slow them down and free them in similar scenarios, but Viezbicke said that policy was not practiced in the west coast, although it has been under serious consideration.
"It's very dangerous for the people and for the whale, but it's something we are considering for the future," Viezbicke said.
Rescuers hoped that they had cut off enough nylon rope for the humpback whale to survive, but they were aware that despite the significant length of rope that was cut off, there was still some line left on its mouth. Nevertheless, they hoped that they had saved it from potential death.
Meanwhile, since January this year, NOAA's whale rescue team has responded to about 50 cases of whale entanglement. Viezbicke explained that whales that swim off the coast may be the result of warmer ocean waters, and that is where they encounter fishing gears.
"Our response network is really just a Band-Aid," added Viezbicke. "We're looking for ways to be proactive and minimize these situations in the future."
