The Maui News

A yearling humpback whale entangled in mooring gear was freed by a team of trained responders off Ukumehame on Wednesday.

A PacWhale Eco-Adventures vessel, Ocean Odyssey, first reported the entangled whale, which appeared in “good” condition but was very evasive, staying near the surface and maintaining unusually rapid speeds, at times in excess of six knots, according to a news release from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The gear was a single wrap of at least 140 feet of small-gauge, yellow line around the animal’s tailstock and over the fluke blades, forming a bridle that trailed behind to a moderate-sized white, hard plastic trawl buoy about 60 feet behind. The wrap at the tailstock was beginning to cut into the animal’s flesh, and the entanglement was deemed life-threatening.

The entanglement response team aboard the sanctuary vessel Kohola met up with trained first responders that were on-site monitoring the whale’s position and providing initial assessment. Trained entanglement responders approached the animal from an inflatable craft launched from the Kohola and used a hooked knife attached to a pole to safely cut it free of all gear.

Preliminary analysis indicated the material was local mooring gear, of considerable weight. The recovered gear will be further analyzed to determine where it may have come from and to try to reduce entanglement threats for large whales in the future.

Responders to the entangled whale included the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, NOAA Fisheries, West Maui Rapid Response team (trained personnel from Ultimate Whale Watch), U.S. Coast Guard Station Maui, NOAA Office of Law Enforcement, Kaho’olawe Island Reserve Commission, state Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Aquatic Resources and the University of Hawaii – Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology (two teams involving whale and shark researchers). The Pacific Whale Foundation research team was ready to assist if needed.

Mariners are asked to keep a sharp lookout for whales in distress but not to approach closely or attempt to assist them. Only trained and well-equipped responders that are authorized under special permits can assist entangled whales and other marine mammals. NOAA recommends immediately reporting an entangled or otherwise injured or distressed whale by calling the statewide NOAA Marine Wildlife Hotline at (888) 256-9840 or the U.S. Coast Guard on VHF channel 16.

It is illegal to approach a humpback whale closer than 100 yards by sea or drone and 1,000 feet by aircraft. To report a vessel coming too close to a whale, call the NOAA Fisheries Enforcement Hotline at (800) 853-1964 or email respectwildlife@noaa.gov.

For a free online course on helping trained responders in documenting and reporting whale entanglements, visit pacific-islands-training.whaledisentanglement.org/#/.