Posted on 01/20/2022 7:08:47 AM PST by SJackson
HONOLULU (KHON2) — A team of ocean wildlife officials removed about 2,000 feet of heavy gauge line from an adult humpback whale who was last tracked to be around Kauai on Wednesday, Jan. 19.
A Kauai resident first spotted the entangled whale with gear trailing from it while he was flying his drone off Poipu on Sunday, Jan. 16. He then reported it to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
According to officials, the whale appeared to be “emaciated” and had patches of rust-colored whale lice, indicating it was in distress.
While officials from NOAA and the Department of Land and Natural Resources were able to remove most of the gear, the rest would have to be taken off another time due to how complicated the entanglement was. A tracking buoy was placed on the whale to find it later.
Officials urge that people who see an entangled whale should report it as soon as possible by calling the NOAA Marine Wildlife Hotline at 1-888-256-9840.
(Excerpt) Read more at khon2.com ...
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Too bad they didn’t describe how they did it. Must have been a touchy thing to do.
Governor Pritzker had a similar problem after spending a weekend at Golden Corral.
I like whales. Went ‘Whale Watching’ in San Diego Bay one time and saw a number of them breach. Pretty thrilling! But more ‘fun’ was when a Navy Sub ‘breached’ right beside our ship! (I later learned that was a part of the tour.)
Is this another one of those situations where they get the critter untangled and free, then he’s attacked and eaten by a pod of Killer Whales? ;)
Did that Golden Corral shut down due to ‘business losses’ shortly thereafter?
Looks like a lot of line, that ain’t cheap.
Or as are pretty rare around Hawaii, though.
Whales do seem to understand scuba divers are no threat and commonly will help them.
There almost seems like a symbiotic relationship developing since we stopped harpooning them.
Interesting. Thanks.
Ahab’s future soulmate?
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