A whale of a success: a humpback whale breaches after being freed from entangling fishing gear!
Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary leads a multi-agency, community-based effort to disentangle humpback whales from derelict fishing gear. On Friday, January 12, an entangled adult humpback whale was freed by a team of trained responders off Makena Beach, Maui. The animal was trailing more than 285 feet of braided fishing line from its mouth, and all gear was successfully removed and recovered.
Many thanks to the disentanglement team for their dedication and hard work!
If you see an entangled whale, please do NOT try to disentangle it yourself – that can be dangerous for both you and the whale. Instead, call the marine mammal stranding coordinator hotline: 1-888 256-9840.
(Video: J. Pantukhoff/NOAA, under NOAA MMHSRP permit #18787-02)
