A NOAA response team rescued an adult humpback whale that had 340 feet of heavy line caught in its mouth off Maui, in the Hawaii Islands. After the line was cut away and the whale was free, a NOAA official said “the animal immediately breached several times.”
The first report of a whale in trouble came from the captain of a fishing boat off Lahaina, Maui, who saw the whale trailing some heavy line. A NOAA team on a small RIB responded quickly, but they said the whale was “very active” at first. Using pole cameras and other gear, they were able to learn that the line was caught in the whale’s mouth. They ultimately were able to cut away all the line, which measured out at 340 feet long and ¾ inch thick.
NOAA says that if you see an entangled marine animal, you should keep at least 100 yards away and call NOAA’s 24-hour hotline at 1-888-256-9840, or contact the Coast Guard on CH 16. It is illegal to approach a humpback whale within 100 yards under any circumstances at sea.
For more: http://www.mauinews.com/news/local-news/2017/12/whale-freed-off-lahaina/
