The Marine Animal Entanglement Response Program (MAER) at the Center for Coastal Studies (CCS) worked to help a badly entangled minke whale east of Cape Cod yesterday afternoon. The approximately 18-foot whale was free-swimming with its entanglement and had traveled over 40 miles from where it was first seen last Sunday.
The whale was first seen entangled last Sunday, just prior to sunset, in Cape Cod Bay, by recreational fishermen. The following morning the MAER team conducted a search for the whale off Provincetown and Truro, without luck. On Tuesday afternoon, a Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) aerial survey team came across the whale off Nauset Inlet, Eastham. The MAER team was already on the water and responded while NEFSC circled the whale.
Once on scene the MAER team found a badly entangled whale that had likely been carrying rope and buoys from fishing gear for some time. Heavy rope was caught in the mouth of the whale and wrapped the body multiple times, which would have prevented the whale from feeding. The team used a grappling hook thrown into the entanglement to establish a control line, should the whale dive. The team then used a hook-shaped knife at the end of a long pole to selectively cut away most of its entanglement. A portion of line was left on the whale since it was deeply embedded in wounds at its left flipper. Removing this may have caused excessive bleeding. While the prognosis for this whale is poor, it did resume normal swimming behavior, which gave the team some optimism.
Minke whales are the smallest of the baleen whales seen off New England and migrate into the area during the summer months to feed. Entanglement reports are not uncommon for this species, and often include whales that have died from drowning in gear due to their smaller size.
“It is pretty rare for a free-swimming entangled minke whale to be seen again after its initial report” said Scott Landry, director of the MAER program. “It was very lucky and fortunate that the aerial team resighted it.”
Many thanks go to the fishermen who reported this whale and to the NEFSC for their support during the disentanglement.
Boaters are urged to report any entanglement sightings of whales, sea-turtles or other marine animals to the MAER team (1-800-900-3622) or the US Coast Guard on VHF 16, and to stand by the animal at a safe distance until trained responders arrive.
CCS disentanglement work is supported in part by grants from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (MA-DMF), the Massachusetts Environmental Trust, and private foundations and donors. All disentanglement activities are conducted under a federal permit authorized by NOAA.