Provincetown, MA – On Tuesday, April 4, the Center for Coastal Studies (CCS) Marine Animal Entanglement Response team (MAER) attempted to disentangle North Atlantic right whale #4545 in the waters east of Wellfleet, MA. The hours-long operation resulted in the removal of about 100 feet of rope from her entanglement, but the most lethal portions of her entanglement remain.
The whale, a young female born in 2015, was first found entangled in February, south of the Cape and Islands. Unfortunately, the distance to her location and lack of daylight prevented a disentanglement attempt at that time.
When #4545 was next seen, in late March in Cape Cod Bay, her entanglement had become much more complex and life-threatening, with very heavy line through her mouth and wrapped tightly around her body. During a response on March 29 the MAER team removed over 200 feet of rope and attached a satellite telemetry buoy to her remaining entanglement so that they could track her movements.
Poor sea conditions kept the MAER team on land for the next week, but a fair weather window on Tuesday morning finally provided them with an opportunity to launch another response. By then, #4545 was about 15 miles east of Cape Cod, travelling quickly towards the southeast. The line was still through her mouth, and the three tight wraps of line that looped around her body were deeply embedded in her skin and blubber. Over 100 feet of rope trailed behind her flukes.
Once on the scene the responders attached several large floats and a parachute sea anchor to the trailing line to slow the whale and keep her near the surface. Despite the addition of the extra drag and flotation she was still very mobile, evading the team’s repeated efforts to approach her to cut the wraps off her body. Eventually the trailing rope broke and the whale sped off, the tight wraps still in place. The team made numerous attempts to reattach a telemetry buoy but were forced to return to port when sea conditions worsened. The whereabouts of #4545 are unknown at this time, but the MAER team is prepared to resume their efforts when she is resighted.
CCS is grateful to the aerial survey team from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center for all of their help in this case.
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.
