(The AEGIS Alliance) – A humpback whale female journeying with her calf and male mate in Maui waters was relieved to be set free following her being discovered entangled in a fisherman’s line along with a big bunch of marine debris attached.
The whale was liberated on Monday while she swam through the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary near the coast of Maui, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration stated on Tuesday. The calf and male were not caught up in the debris.
There had been greater than 500 feet of fisherman’s line that was observed firmly wrapping around the head of the humpback.
“Once freed, the mother and her calf went into resting behavior, with the calf tucking under the mother’s chin. The successful response increased the survival chances for both the mother and her calf,” NOAA pointed out.
The line was seen tangled up with a variety of types of sea clutter that builds up in the ocean waters that surround Hawaii.
(AP Photo)
“The debris included a dozen different types of lines and netting,” NOAA mentioned, along with a minimum of 30 feet of thick line approximated to be a minimum of 1 1/2 inches thick. “While the gear sunk out of reach and couldn’t be recovered, responders obtained critical documentation of the removed gear to determine its possible origins.”
It is a federal criminal offense to get close to a humpback whale and the response crew was operating under unique federal government authorization.
Jeffrey Childers – The AEGIS Alliance – This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
