Andrea
Thompson, OurAmazingPlanet Managing Editor
Specially
trained divers recently freed a humpback whale swimming off the island of Maui
A tour vessel
and a U.S. Coast Guard aircraft initially spotted the whale on March 8;the
animal had small-gauge line cutting into its tail, according to a release from
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine
Sanctuaries. Observers found the whale in the waters of Hawaiian Islands
Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, where humpbacks
migrate each winter to mate, calve and nurse their young.
A response
effort, led by the sanctuary and working under NOAA's Marine Mammal Health and
Stranding Response Program, was quickly launched, the release said. Divers cut
away 40 feet (12 meters) of trailing line, but couldn't completely free the
whale.
However, they
attached a satellite-tag buoy to the whale and relocated it between Kaho'olawe
and Lana'I on Monday (March 11); there, they were able to remove the rest of
the gear tangled around the animal.
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