The lines that bind right whales

Entanglements in fixed fishing gear continues to be a serious concern for this small, endangered right whale population.


Scientists from NOAA Fisheries Service approaching a young North Atlantic right whale they disentangled on January 15 off the coast of Cape Canaveral, FL. Photo via NOAA, credit: With permission from EcoHealth Alliance.

Over the course of the past five months, three right whales have been seen carrying gear: Catalog #1503, a reproductive female who was seen one day in September on Jeffreys Ledge with rope entangling her head; Catalog #3120, a male born in 2001 who was also seen on Jeffreys Ledge in October entangled in gillnetting either in mouth or around flippers (this animal also suffered a serious entanglement in 2002) and the most recent case, a two year old female, the 2009 calf of Catalog #2611.

She was sighted on Christmas Day down in the southeast U.S. severely entangled with gear through her mouth and around her flippers and trailing behind the body. The first animal has not been resighted and the second animal has only been sighted far from shore so no disentanglement attempts could be mounted and their fate is uncertain.


Scientists from NOAA Fisheries Service and its state and nonprofit partners successfully used at-sea chemical sedation to help cut the remaining ropes from a young North Atlantic right whale on January 15 off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Fla. The sedative given to the whale allowed the disentanglement team to safely approach the animal and remove 50 feet of rope which was wrapped through its mouth and around its flippers. Photo via NOAA, credit: with permission from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

The third animal was recently the focus of a complex sedation and disentanglement effort detailed in this press release from NOAA.


Disentangled right whale off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Fla. on January 15. Photo via NOAA, credit: with permission from EcoHealth Alliance

We don't yet know if this two year old will survive. She is very thin and sustained injuries from her entanglement and may have gear still remaining on her flippers. But the monumental efforts taken to free her using all tools available underscores the need to first, try to save all right whales in imminent danger of dying from human activities, and second, to quickly and effectively put changes in place that will eliminate these dangers. Both of these are challenging to accomplish but there is a concerted effort on several fronts to do so.

Here is a short video of those monumental disentanglement efforts on the open seas.
Scientists from NOAA Fisheries Service and its state and nonprofit partners successfully used a long pole with attached knife and buoy to help cut the remaining ropes from a young sedated North Atlantic right whale on January 15 off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Fla.Video via NOAA, credit: with permission from Georgia Department of Natural Resource