Agencies Work to Free Rare Whale off Ga.

RIGHT WHALE PARTIALLY DISENTANGLED OFF GEORGIA COAST

Multi-agency Effort Highlights Need to Prevent Entanglements in Commercial Fishing Gear

A young North Atlantic right whale is swimming easier after wildlife biologists cut away most of the 100-plus yards of heavy fishing rope the animal was dragging.

The multi-agency disentanglement effort, much of which occurred 40 miles off Wolf Island on Monday, was relatively quick for the 4-year-old male whale, one of only about 450 remaining North Atlantic right whales.

Directed to the whale by an aerial survey team and a satellite tracking buoy monitored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, authorized staff with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission threw a cutting device across the trailing rope. Seconds later, the thick rope parted.

But responders could not remove all of the rope because the whale avoided their boats and because the rope is likely entangled in its baleen. The hope is that the whale known to researchers as No. 4057 will shed the remaining rope. Whether that happens or not won’t be clear until – or unless – No. 4057 is seen again.

Entanglement in fishing gear is one of the leading causes of death and injury for North Atlantic right whales, one of the most imperiled whale species in the world.

DNR wildlife biologist Clay George said severe injuries on No. 4057’s head and flukes and the fact that the whale is still partially entangled underscore the need to prevent entanglements.

“Disentanglement can’t save every whale. The focus must be on prevention.”

Read today's news release. Watch the video.

Also: 

• Learn about North Atlantic right whales. 
• Explore conservation of nongame wildlife in Georgia. 
• Help conserve right whales and other nongame across our state. 

 

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