BOSTON — A team of rescuers freed a female humpback whale entangled in fishing gear on the north end of Stellwagen Bank, east of Boston, on Monday, July 9, 2024. The whale was with her calf at the time of the rescue operation.
The Marine Animal Entanglement Response team (MAER) at the Center for Coastal Studies was alerted to the situation after receiving a call from a tuna fishing boat at its emergency hotline Monday morning. The caller from the fishing boat reported seeing two whales, one of which was towing a buoy behind it.
The MAER team located the whales after searching the area.
According to a press release from the Center for Coastal Studies, the female humpback whale, named “Mudskipper,” had approximately 150 feet of rope from fishing gear through her mouth. Her dependent calf is approximately seven months old.
“Despite the entanglement, the calf was attempting to nurse from Mudskipper and the rope posed a risk of injuring Mudskipper over time or entangling the calf to her,” the Center for Coastal Studies said in its release. “The team deployed a small inflatable boat from its response vessel Ibis and began the process of adding large floats to her entanglement. The floats and drag from the inflatable boat being towed by the whale eventually pulled the entangling rope from the mouth of Mudskipper. Mother and calf sped off quickly once released and both are expected to recover well.”
The Center for Coastal Studies urges boaters to report any sightings of entangled whales, sea turtles, or other marine animals to the MAER team at 1-800-900-3622 or the US Coast Guard on VHF 16.
