PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CENTER FOR COASTAL STUDIES
Crews work to free an entangled whale Sunday near Provincetown.
PROVINCETOWN – A young humpback whale was rescued from fishing gear entanglement Sunday after crews from the Center for Coastal Studies spent 11 hours on the waters with it.
According to crew member Doug Sandilands, the Center’s Humpback Studies crew went out for a cruise and spotted the mammal around 5:30 a.m. The rescue team responded in under an hour.
Sandilands said the crew used a smaller, 14-foot boat to access the whale and understand how the lines are wrapped around its body.
“It had a lot of lines underneath it, which at first were hard to see,” he said.
Buoys with bracing lines were attached to retard the whale’s movements while the rescue was in progress.
Using a long pole with a hook knife at one end, they were eventually able to lift some of the entrapping gear and slice the whale free.
“It was in pretty rough shape; it likely had the gear on it for a few weeks and it looked a bit skinny,” Sandilands said.
However, he said that the whale’s young age, coupled with the speed at which it took off after being freed, gives him confidence it will survive.
“But, you never know,” he said.
Sandilands said if anyone spots an entangled whale on the water they are encouraged to call the Center for Coastal Studies.
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