Summary of the 2003 Season

The Atlantic Large Whale Disentanglement Network officially began in 1994 with the establishment of a first response unit in Maine working cooperatively with the Center for Coastal Studies’ disentanglement team (PCCS) on Cape Cod. Since that time, this partnership of federal and state agencies, U.S. and Canadian Coast Guards, commercial fishermen and scientists, has grown in response to the problem of entanglement. It is hoped that the information gathered by the Network, during disentanglement operations, will inform the decisions that ultimately mitigate the problem. There were ample opportunities in 2003 to learn more: entanglement reports, verified entanglements and on-water responses were the highest to date.

The Network could not have supported this effort without the continued and dedicated help of its established partners and new contacts. During the year PCCS and the Network officially partnered with the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans, signing an international Memorandum of Understanding to strategically respond to right whale entanglements within the Bay of Fundy and Scotian Shelf.  Along with the continued and successful use of the apprenticeship program, initiated in 2002, three fishermen from Campobello Island and two researchers from the Virginia Marine Science Museum were trained in 2003, bringing the total number of higher level first response units within the Network to fifteen trained and equipped teams strategically stationed from New Brunswick to Florida. While these response units gain experience through actual disentanglement events, outreach to Coast Guard stations and professional mariners to increase awareness and reporting continues.

In 2003 over 78 sightings of entangled, dead, injured or out-of-habitat animals were phoned in to the Network hotline, with calls coming in from the Bay of Fundy, the Gulf of Maine, southern New England, the Mid-Atlantic and the Southeast Coast. These calls represented 34 verified cases of entangled large whales, including 20 humpbacks and 9 right whales. Network members mounted 23 on-water responses in these cases. By year’s end, life-threatening gear was removed from 12 individual whales, including one right whale.

From January through mid-May the Network received 11 verified reports of entangled right whales representing seven individuals, including four whales that had originally been reported as entangled in 2002 (Piper, 3210, 3120 and 1424). Five operations were mounted in support of these cases, in Florida and the Gulf of Maine, but in all of these attempts the animals were not disentangled or tagged due to animal evasiveness, time of day or a lack of standby support. Southeast Coast Network members that completed the apprenticeship program in 2002 documented three of these animals as well as an emaciated right whale with evidence of fresh entanglement scars.

The next wave of sightings started in late-June and lasted until the end of August, with 25 verified entanglement reports, representing live and dead minkes (2 individuals), finbacks (1), humpbacks (16) and right whales (3). The sources of these reports and subsequent disentanglement support represent the full diversity of Network participation: aerial surveys; a research blimp; commercial fishermen; shipboard research cruises; whale watches; the U.S. and Canadian Coast Guards; and recreational boaters.

On-water Network responses resulted in the successful disentanglement of six humpback whales (the remaining cases represent animals that were either already dead, were reported after the fact, did not have a life-threatening entanglements or were found too late in the day for response).

Most notable during this time was the high number of humpback whales reported (5 individuals) from a long-lasting aggregation of these animals off Chatham, Cape Cod. The harbormaster’s office in Chatham generously and patiently helped out with disentanglement efforts through communications, a mooring space and on-water support.  Among these reports was a free-swimming, entangled humpback whale, sighted by a private boater outside Chatham Harbor. This same whale had been reported a week earlier by a NOAA-Fisheries aerial survey on Georges Bank. After reporting the animal to the USCG, the reporting vessel stood by as disentanglement responders, aboard the Chatham harbormaster’s vessel, made their way to the scene and tagged the whale (the animal was disentangled the next day).

That same day, off Campobello Island in the Bay of Fundy, fishermen and members of the Head Harbor Lighthouse team that had recently completed the Network apprenticeship program, responded to a severely entangled right whale. This whale appeared to be in poor condition as a result of its entanglement injuries and was moving slowly, still carrying multiple sets of gear, which allowed for a swift and safe disentanglement.

Aircraft working in association with tuna fishermen found a number of entangled whales throughout the Gulf of Maine, including a mature female humpback called Verga. In this case, after circling above the animal until responders arrived to attach a telemetry buoy or attempt disentanglement, the pilot continued to work with the disentanglement team by relaying detailed information about the nature of the entanglement. Within hours, the weather deteriorated to the point that the 

disentanglement attempt was halted. Following the satellite track of the animal over the subsequent week of bad weather, Network members could only watch as the animal headed offshore. At the northern edge of Georges Bank, the satellite fixes indicated that the buoy had gone adrift. A NOAA-Fisheries vessel surveying in the area was enlisted to help recover the buoy and shortly thereafter contacted a commercial fishing vessel that had found the buoy along with hundreds of feet of gear. Almost a month later the same tuna spotter who had originally reported Verga as entangled, photographed her in the Great South Channel, this time free of gear. This event highlighted the breadth of Network dedication while reaffirming the value of involving as many partners as possible.

Ultimately, four humpback whales were disentangled by Network members throughout the Gulf of Maine during a ten day period in September. However, sightings of entangled whales then began to slow, and during November and December, as foul weather days increased and dedicated survey efforts were reduced, the reporting rate decreased rapidly to zero.

In 2004 PCCS plans to continue strengthening higher level response teams in targeted regions through the apprenticeship program and through directed participation during disentanglement events (usually with animals that have been tagged). Advanced level trainings will also be conducted with selected state marine patrols. While the successful mariner outreach programs will continue along the coast, increasing emphasis will be placed on advanced level membership. Part of this effort will be enhanced by the hiring of a new full-time team member at PCCS, with a portion of that position dedicated to Network development.
 
Two experimental projects related to the tagging of entangled whales will continue in the coming year. These include the support of an experimental design and prototype development of a buoy with significantly lower drag that those currently in widespread use, and the development of a new GIS linked ARGOS telemetry transmitter for use with the existing buoy system. Ongoing development and testing of tail-harness models will also continue in an effort to increase entanglement success, especially for right whales. To increase response efficiency from Provincetown the PCCS team plans to upgrade the R/V Ibis, originally donated by he U.S. Air National Guard in 2003. Changes will include a higher platform for sighting, more protection for crew and repowering with dual outboards for increased speed and range.

While the Network prepares for another season PCCS wishes to congratulate and thank all of its members for continued dedicated service and participation in training and response to entangled whales. While the overall effect of the large whale take reduction process has not yet produced the decreased need for our work that was once hoped, Network members continue to rise to the task of providing the safest and most effective responses when needed.