Image of the Day: Entangled Humpback Whale Rescued

Federal and Hawaiian state officials, along with local volunteers, teamed up to free an entangled humpback whale Monday, Feb. 15. The rescue workers unraveled 25 feet of line and three buoys from the whale's mouth.

When the whale was first spotted Feb. 9 off the Island of Hawaii, rescue workers attached a separate tracking buoy to the animal so that it could be followed until it was safe enough to attempt a rescue.

This is the first successful disentanglement in Hawaii this whale season and the first disentanglement that involved the use of a radio tracking buoy.

The number of confirmed entangled whale reports in Hawaiian waters has increased in recent years. Large whales like humpbacks are typically able to rip the gear off the ocean floor and swim off with it. Scientists think that many of the whales reported entangled in Hawaiian waters probably brought the entanglement with them from higher latitude feeding grounds. While the whales are not at risk of drowning or immediate death from the entanglement, they are at increased risk of starvation, infection, physical trauma from the gear and ship strikes.

This event is the third confirmed report of an entangled humpback whale this season. The first report of an entangled humpback was received Dec. 27, 2005; the second report was received Jan. 29.

--Ker Than

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Credit:  NOAA