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| 2003 Humpback Whale
Entanglements. |
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Whale Watchers help
save entangled humpback by keeping the animal
under observation until professional help arrives.
(8/16/2003) |
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While
watching a humpback whale this morning (Saturday 8.16.03) we noticed a
highflier and buoy dragging. At first we thought it was current but realized
the whale was entangled at which time we immediately reported the entanglement
to the CCS rescue hotline. We also noticed the animal did appear to attempt to
fluke but was not able to arch or raise its tail above the water. We believed
that this was due to the entanglement in the tail stock area.
We maintained visual contact with
the whale for more than two hours until the rescue team arrived at 12:31 at
which time we left them to do their job. We were notified at 15:30 (3 hours
later) that 3 poly balls and a drogue had been put on the gear and Dr. Charles
"Stormy" Mayo was approaching the fluke for the first of many
cuts.
The
disentanglement team described the whale as thin and the entanglement consisted
of two types of line/gear embedded in the tissue of the tail stock and laying
over the flukes. |
At 18:00, the team was able to remove more than 300 feet
of gear from the animal. However, some line remained embedded in the tail
stock. The team placed a satellite buoy on the remaining gear and will attempt
to remove the last of the gear at the first available opportunity. This animal
has not yet been individually identified. |
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The
Dixie II, the vessel the Center for Coastal
Studies is currently using for their rescue boat |
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On
behalf of Captain John and Son Boats and the crew of the Tails of the Sea, we
would like to thank all of the passengers for their patience and interest while
we stood by this animal. The most critical time of this process is often the
least dramatic. When visual contact is lost, there is almost no chance of
relocating the animal. While many people can say they have been whale watching,
the passengers on board this trip have literally helped to save a whale We will
continue to provide updates and photos as we receive them. |
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| Update - August 17,
2003 |
| No signal has been
received from the telemetry buoy leading the rescue team to believe that the
remaining gear has caused the buoy to submerge leaving little hope for
relocating the animal. Cyamids (small crustaceans) were reportedly prevalent on
the body (including the dorsal fin) indicating the animal is probably in
poor health. |
This
highflier is part of the gear trailing this whale. It was the movement of the
highflier (several hundred feet behind the whale) that first clued us in to the
fact the whale was entangled. |
Note the visible shoulder blade.
While the entanglement is confined to the tail stock, this animal probably has
had trouble foraging and feeding due to the limited mobility resulting from the
entanglement. |
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| Trident
Entangled |
Yesterday
(8/19/03) Trident (a 21 year old female, the 1982 calf of Flag) was reported as
entangled by one of the Dolphin Fleet whale watching boats. She was "lost" in a
group of whales and all of the whale watch boats joined in to search for her.
Luckily, we relocated her and immediately reported our position to the CCS
Rescue team. Line was visible on her back and her right flipper was pinned to
her side. She was taking 14-15 minute dives and surfacing for 3-4 breaths. We
stayed with her for 2 cycles and then handed her off to one of the Dolphin
boats so they could track her until the Rescue team arrived. She was not
cooperative during their attempts to free her and, at one point, joined up with
Grackle (a six year old humpback whale) and Sirius (a 21 year old male
humpback) making any approach of her more difficult.
The Fuji blimp
happened to be out conducting research for the Stellwagen Bank National Marine
Sanctuary and Woods Hole Oceanographic Inst.. They were instrumental in giving
the Rescue team information on the extent of her entanglement and her location.
With their help, the Rescue team was able to remove some of the gear from her.
However, Trident continued to travel SE and would sometimes surface for only
4-5 seconds making additional approaches impossible. She was followed by Rescue
boat until darkness prevented any further disentanglement attempts. The team
was not able to attach a telemetry buoy and she was last seen east of the BD
buoy (east of Cape Cod). Since much of the gear was removed and line did not
appear to be on her tail stock, or in her mouth, she may be able to feed
without difficulty. She is an easily identifiable whale and any resightings of
her should be reported and documented.
UPDATE - September 2,
2003
Finally, some good
news!!!!!!!!! Trident (Flag's 1982 calf) was resighted today and she is
gear-free with no apparent injuries!! |
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| 2003 Humpback Calf
Victim of Entanglement |
| On another sad
note, a humpback whale calf of the year was found dead off the coast of Maine
on August 17th. The calf was entangled in gear which is likely to have been the
cause of death. |
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August 28,
2003
Several more entanglements
reported since August 25th including another humpback, a finback and a right
whale, bringing the totals to 16 humpbacks, 2 finbacks, 2 minkes and, at least,
7 right whales. Here's another unfortunate animal- maybe fortunate, she's still
alive. Fulcrum is the 1997 calf of a whale named Chimney. Note how she looked
last year versus how she looks this year. |
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Fulcrum 2000
Click image for larger view |
Fulcrum 2003
Click image for larger view |
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| August 29,
2003 |
Another day,
another entanglement.......... Verga, a female first identified in 1986, was
reported as entangled today by a tuna spotting plane. The CCS rescue team was
able to remove a danforth anchor and some line from her but she remains
entangled with a line tightly pulling over her blowholes and, apparently,
through her mouth. They were able to get a transmitter tag on her and,
depending on weather conditions and her location, they will be out tomorrow
morning trying to get the remaining gear removed.
UPDATE-
The satellite fixes on Verga, the most recent entangled humpback
(from 8/29- she has a satellite buoy on the remaining gear) show that she has
booked out of the area and, as of today, is SE of Nantucket (about 60+ miles SE
from wear she was tagged on the 29th). Weather in this area is always
contentious and I'm not sure when the rescue team will launch another
disentanglement event for her. |
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| September 4,
2003 |
| Another
entangled humpback, this one off of Nova Scotia- Canadian Department of
Fisheries and Ocean and a whale watch boat captain freed it. It was apparently
anchored in gillnet. I think this is the 18th humpback whale entangled this
year. |
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September 11,
2003
Another humpback was
disentangled on September 7th. This animal was off of New Brunswick, Canada
and, like most of the other recent entanglements, appears to have been caught
in gillnet. This same animal was sighted by the Center for Coastal Studies on
August 23 and was not entangled at the time. For those that are keeping score,
the grand total is now 19 entangled humpbacks since June 23. |
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September 15,
2003
Reflection, one of the Whale
Adoption Projects family of adoptable whales, freed from entanglement!
Click here for details
and photos. (page will open in a new window) |
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October 3,
2003
Unfortunately, there was also
another entangled Humpback reported. The whale could not be relocated by the
time the Disentanglement team arrived and the weather doesn't look cooperative
tomorrow. Hopefully, the animal will be found, or shed the gear on its
own.
Verga Spotted Free Of
Gear
Verga has been sighted free of gear. She was initially reported as
entangled on August 29- at that time, some, but not all of her gear was removed
and a satellite buoy was attached to the remaining gear. On Sept. 8, the buoy
(still attached to gear) was found floating 130+ miles east of Cape Cod.
However, on Oct. 3 a tuna spotting plane photographed her free of gear. She
does have some scarring on her but she seems fine.
Interestingly, the buoy from humpback that we reported as entangled
on August 16 also appears to be floating freely in the same general area where
Verga's gear was found. It is possible that the drag from pulling the satellite
buoy is enough to "finish" the disentanglement effort. Hopefully, that is what
has happened in this case as well. The Aug. 16th humpback was also partially
disentangled by the Center for Coastal studies and the buoy was attached to the
remaining gear. This whale, however, already had some cyamids visible and
appeared thin. An aerial flight in the area did not find a carcass so we can
hope that the gear came off and the whale will be able to recover. |
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The two
biggest threats to whales in the Gulf of Maine are from fishing gear
entanglements and ship strikes. While whales search specific ocean bottom
contours for food, so do fisherman. That results in the whales navigating
through a maze of underwater lines and nets set to catch lobsters and fish.
Sometimes they also catch whales. The animals can sometimes maneuver through
the labyrinth successfully but not always. At least twelve humpback whales have
been reported as entangled between June 23rd and August 16, 2003. Given that as
few as 3% of the entanglements get reported, there are likely more than 150
humpbacks entangled here annually. The Plymouth Marine Mammal Research Center
has requested to be part of the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary
Entanglement Working Group (to be convened this fall) in order to help find a
solution to this tragic problem.
To learn more about the process of disentangling a whale, please
go to: http://www.coastalstudies.org/rescue/index.htm
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