The Marine Animal Entanglement Response team (MAER) at the Center for Coastal Studies disentangled a humpback whale yesterday on Stellwagen Bank. The whale, identified by the CCS Humpback Whale Studies Program as Mudskipper, was entangled in fishing gear and accompanied by her calf.
The MAER emergency hotline (1-800-900-3622) received a call relayed from a tuna fishing boat yesterday morning describing two whales, one of which was towing a buoy behind it on the north end of Stellwagen Bank, east of Boston. The MAER team conducted a search of the area, eventually relocating the pair.
The team found Mudskipper, with her dependent calf of approximately seven months of age, with approximately 150 feet of rope from fishing gear through her mouth. Despite the entanglement, the calf was attempting to nurse from Mudskipper and the rope posed a risk of injuring Mudskipper over time or entangling the calf to her. The team deployed a small inflatable boat from its response vessel Ibis and began the process of adding large floats to her entanglement. The floats and drag from the inflatable boat being towed by the whale eventually pulled the entangling rope from the mouth of Mudskipper. Mother and calf sped off quickly once released and both are expected to recover well.
Many thanks goes to the crew of the tuna fishing vessel for promptly reporting the sighting and to the Cape Ann Whale Watch Company for relaying the report. Thanks also to the Northeast Fisheries Science Center aerial survey team for their support during the disentanglement. This is the third whale disentanglement in as many weeks by the MAER team.
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.
YouTube video link: https://youtu.be/meDrPM-wh3M