Humpback whale caught in fishing rope freed by responders

A young humpback whale was freed from entanglement in fishing gear off the coast of Massachusetts on Sunday.

The Provincetown-based Center for Coastal Studies said boaters spotted the “relatively small whale” struggling in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, which encompasses 842 square miles between Cape Ann and Cape Cod. The Marine Animal Entanglement Response team responded and found the whale with rope around the base of its tail that was essentially anchoring it in place.

The center said rescuers only had a short amount of time to act with storms in the forecast on Sunday evening. They used a hook-shaped knife at the end of a 30-foot pole to make a series of cuts to the rope – and it worked. The crew stayed with the whale until it was able to start swimming around again.

Researchers believe the whale has a good prognosis despite being injured by the entanglement. Whale watchers have repeatedly called the MAER hotline about the whale in the past month because it has deep wounds on its body from a previous entanglement, the center said.

A responder from the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary was part of the effort to free the whale. 

“It was an honor to help this whale and great to continue the collaboration between our teams,” Maria Harvey said in a statement.

Entanglement and vessel strikes are two of the most serious threats to whales. Just last week, a critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, recently seen off Cape Cod, was observed with fishing gear in its mouth in Canada’s Gulf of St. Lawrence.