Photo: Center for Coastal Studies
PROVINCETOWN, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Another whale gets rescued from fishing gear.
On Monday, a tuna fishing boat notified the Marine Animal Entanglement Response team (MAER) at the Center for Coastal Studies (CCS) of what appeared to be two humpback whales, with one towing a buoy behind it. The whales were seen on the north end of the Stellwagen Bank.
The mother whale, identified by CCS’s Humpback Whale Studies Program as “Mudskipper,” and her calf were located by the MAER team. She had roughly 150 feet of rope from fishing gear in her mouth, as her calf tried to nurse.
The team attached large floats to the whale’s entanglement and used a small inflatable boat to pull the fishing rope from her mouth. Both whales are expected to recover.
“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,” said the CCS in a statement.
The MAER team said this is the third whale disentanglement in the last three weeks. Any boaters who see entangled aquatic animals are asked to call the MAER emergency hotline.
WBZ NewsRadio's Shari Small (@ShariSmallNews) reports.
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