Aug 2, 2006 5:33 pm US/Eastern
Crews Free Entangled Whale In Cape Cod Bay
PROVINCETOWN (CBS4) ―
Rescue crews feed a humpback whale which was entangled in fishing gear near the mouth of Cape Cod Bay. The whale had multiple wraps and a lobster trap caught around its head.
A recreational fisherman spotted the entangled humpback at 7:12 a.m.
A disentanglement team from the Atlantic Large Whale Disentanglement Network led by the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies was able to free whale of the wraps and trap about 8 miles off Race Point near the mouth of Cape Cod Bay around 2:30 p.m.
"It was an unusual entanglement, originating from the mouth, with a tight wrap on the lower chin," says David Morin, operations manager for the PCCS Whale Disentanglement Team who worked on the humpback whale today. "It had a wrap coming from the mouth, going across the breast, and back up into the mouth," Morin added.
"We added a sufficient amount of drag so that the animal could break free of the gear," Morin explained. No lines were cut. He added that "the drag - a drogue, buoy and inflatables - were added at a strategic point" to ensure the humpback stood a good chance of breaking free of the lines.
PCCS is the only organization licensed by the NOAA Fisheries Service to disentangle large whales from marine debris and fishing gear.
Humpback whales are an endangers species. There are about 12,000 humpback whales in the North Atlantic.
Anyone who sees an entangled whale is asked to phone the ALWDN at 1.800.900.3622.
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