Center Successfully Disentangles Humpback Off Chatham

PROVINCETOWN, MA.: The Marine Animal Entanglement Response team (MAER) at the Center for Coastal Studies (CCS) freed a badly entangled humpback whale Monday off Chatham, MA. The whale, named Thumper, was with her young calf and had thick rope wrapped five times around her body, which likely hindered her from feeding. The team spent an hour with the pair using a specially designed cutting grapple and were able to sever the wraps of rope. Both Thumper, and her calf, were in poor condition indicating that the mother had likely been entangled for months. The prognosis for both whales is now much improved.

A private vessel from the Chatham Bars Inn sighted Thumper and calf in the late morning on Monday about 10 miles east of Chatham Harbor. Thumper was able to swim freely while entangled. The vessel operators agreed to stand by the whales while the MAER team mounted a response out of Provincetown, MA. Sea conditions were poor and worsening.

When MAER team members arrived on the scene, they noted that Thumper was much thinner and paler than other current humpback mothers and also had wounds across her body and a heavy infestation of whale lice. The configuration of her entanglement likely made feeding very difficult. In turn, this would have made milk production for her calf equally difficult. Her calf was smaller and thinner than other calves seen in the area. Without intervention, the entanglement would have been lethal for both whales. Intervention however was complicated by Thumper’s calf.

Considering the sea state and forecast, the team considered adding a tracking buoy to the rope wrapped around Thumper but decided against it since that would pose an entanglement hazard for the calf. Instead, the team opted to use a grappling hook outfitted with extremely sharp blades which they threw into her entanglement. Then the team deployed a long tether and large float to the grappling hook, which created enough drag to create cutting capability. It took a few throws to attach to the entanglement, but once in place the buoy went slack within seconds and when Thumper returned to the surface for air, the ropes wrapped around her body were gone and both the mother and calf swam off to the east.

Many thanks go to the vessel operators with the Chatham Bars Inn for their support of this case.

Photo captions:

Photo 1: Thumper surfaces for air, gear-free, with the vessel from the Chatham Bars Inn in the background. CCS image taken under NOAA permit 18786.

Photo 2: Thumper surfaces for air with her calf in the background. CCS image taken under NOAA permit 18786.

Video: The MAER team uses a cutting grapple thrown into the entanglement of Thumper and Thumper returns to the surface, gear-free. CCS footage taken under NOAA permit 18786.