Lady Divers give a shout out and a great big hero’s thank you to everyone involved in this mission to save a helpless entangled baby Humpback whale in Hawaii.
Article written By: Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary
On Sunday afternoon, December 6, 2009, the juvenile humpback whale found entangled in a web of polypropylene rope last week was set free. Members from NOAA’s Hawaiian Islands Humpback National Marine Sanctuary, NOAA’s Pacific Islands Regional Office and Hawaii’s Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) were able to approach close enough to cut the entangling lines using specialized equipment. Using telemetry equipment the response team located the animal in waters west of Moloka`i. The animal’s exact location was identified from a U.S. Coast Guard HH65 Helicopter after the team crossed the Kaiwi channel from Oahu aboard a U.S. Coast Guard patrol boat.
This was a unique event because the whale was a yearling swimming in close proximity with its mother and a male escort. Past disentanglements have not included other animals in such tight association. Also, this entanglement involved an energetic yearling that added to the high degree of difficulty. All rescue responses are potentially dangerous.
This rescue played out over the last five days. Because the animal was able to be tagged, we were able to track it while waiting for the best opportunity for action based on resources and ocean conditions.
After several days of monitoring, the crew attached a sea anchor, a device like a parachute underwater. The whale finally slowed and began staying near the surface. The team then hooked a knife to the rope near the whale’s back using a long pole, needling the blade between the rope and a cleft left by a wound from the rope. The knife was then attached to another sea anchor, and after 10 minutes it sliced through the line freeing the whale.
When all the gear was removed, at 2:14 p.m., the whale appeared to be in good shape, and swam away with the mother and escort. The response team retrieved the gear from the whale, which was in total approximately 350 feet of heavy gage yellow polypropylene line.
The team was pleased to save this whale from a life-threatening entanglement; however, it is important to stress that the main goal is to gain information to reduce the threat of entanglement. Although freeing the animal is one goal, our main goal is to reduce the rate of entanglement in the future by understanding details like, “How was the gear set? How did the whale become entangled?”
This disentanglement followed specific protocols based on authorization and permitting. It takes a networked effort of many organizations and agencies working together to cut a large whale free. This includes not only logistics, but also direct assistance with the disentanglement operation.
Member of the team included:
Ed Lyman, Marine Mammal Response Manager, NOAA’s Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary (coordinating the effort, cutting the whale free)
David Schofield, Marine Mammal Stranding Response Coordinator, NOAA Fisheries Service Pacific Islands Regional Office (logistics, preparation of gear, acquired new pole system that was used in rescue, onboard assistance)
David Nichols, Acting Sanctuary Co-Manager, State of Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources (logistics, preparation of gear, acquired new pole system that was used in rescue, onboard assistance)
Eric Roberts, United States Coast Guard (planning assistance, vessels, logistics)
Petty Officer 2nd Class Ryan Lundy, United States Coast Guard (in charge of support boat with Coast Guard)
Last updated December 5, 2009 9:00 a.m.
Information Prior to Rescue
On Tuesday, December 1, 2009 at 7:20 a.m., NOAA’s Hawaiian Islands Disentanglement Network received a call from Pacific Whale Foundation’s vessel, Ocean Explorer, concerning a subadult humpback whale (approximately 30 – 35 feet in length) entangled off Launiopoko, Maui. NOAA’s Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary mounted a response effort with assistance from the United States Coast Guard and Hawaii’s Department of Land and Natural Resources. The entanglement involved hundreds of feet of heavy gauge, yellow poly line, originating from both sides of the whale’s mouth. The line crossed tightly over the whale’s head behind the blowholes to form a knot, which then trailed hundreds of feet behind as two lines. One of the trailing lines terminated in a bundle of gear.
Ocean Explorer stood by over an hour to make sure the animal was not lost while the sanctuary’s response boat was enroute. The United States Coast Guard, sector Honolulu, provided aerial support by diverting a helicopter on exercises to the area, while Coast Guard station Maui was prepared to provide surface support if it was needed.
By 10:00 a.m. the sanctuary’s vessel, Hihimanu, was on site. After additional assessment and documentation it was determined that the entanglement was indeed life threatening. Due to rough sea conditions a full disentanglement effort could not be immediately carried out. However, to help re-locate the animal for a disentanglement effort when conditions allowed, the animal was tagged with a telemetry buoy (holding a GPS and satellite transmitter package) which was attached to the trailing gear.
On December 2, 2009 the entangled whale became highly mobile. It was determined that the whale was actually a yearling that was accompanied by its mother and a single male humpback, known as an escort. At one point the entangled whale was east of Kaho’olawe and appeared to be heading towards the Alenuihaha Channel; however, the animal did turn north back into lee waters and was re-sighted off Wailea, Maui around the noon hour by Pacific Whale Foundation’s vessel, Ocean Intrigue.
Because the origin of the entanglement was located so far forward on the whale (a mouth entanglement with a tight wrap just behind the blowholes), and because it involved a yearling in close association with its mother and an escort, this was a very difficult, and potentially more dangerous, disentanglement effort. To be able to respond to the whale, the sanctuary fabricated a lighter, longer pole system and upon completion mounted another response effort.
At 2:40 p.m., using the realtime VHF signal from the satellite tag, the response team located the tag buoy, which was no longer attached to the animal. Approximately twelve feet of frayed and parted entangling line was recovered. With assistance from Pacific Whale Founation’s vessels, Ocean Odyssey and Ocean Quest, the entangled yearling was re-located off Coral Gardens, Maui, and the sanctuary team was able to re-attach the telemetry buoy. At that time it was observed that a significant amount of the line that had been trailing behind the animal was no longer present. It appears that the action of the whale dragging the buoy and the grapple chafing the gear had removed more than 100 feet of line and the bundle of gear.
With what remained of the day, the team attempted several slow approaches to the head of the yearling in order to try and cut the tight wrap that was still encircling its head using a “flying knife” (a knife that comes off the pole system and is managed by an attached line). On one attempt the team was almost successful, placing the knife just aft of where it needed to be. With the wrap so far forward there was a very small window of opportunity to make the necessary placement. Eventually the team left the animal with a plan to readjust their tools and respond at another time.
At 6:15 a.m. on December 3, 2009, the latest VHF signal showed the animal North East of Lanai and heading into Kalohi Channel.
By December 4, 2009, at 6:00 a.m. telemetry indicated the entangled yearling humpback was somewhere on the end of Penguin Bank, which is located off of Moloka`i. Because of the remote location, weather forecast, and sea state, no response was launched and tracking will continue.
On December 5, 2009, at 9:00 a.m., the entangled yearling humpback whale was still located on Penguin Bank, approximately 22 nautical miles from Honolulu Harbor. While still highly mobile, the animal appeared to be staying on the outer portion of Penguin Bank. Due to the location of the whale and the favorable weather forecast for Sunday, “variable, less than 10 knots”, there was the possibility of staging a response from O`ahu on the following day.
This article originated from http://hawaiihumpbackwhale.noaa.gov/welcome.html
