humpback rescue

HONOLULU -- Every year humpback whales and their young come to Hawaii to play, give birth and nurse their young in the warm waters, but those same waters pose hazards.
And this week, a juvenile whale was spotted towing hundreds of feet of gear, some even wrapped around his mouth.
Ed Lyman, with the NOAA Marine Mammal Response Team, said a whale had to be freed of rope. If it wasn't, the rope would restrict eating for the young whale and painfully cut into its mouth as it grew. So the call went out to try a dangerous at-sea mission to free the whale from this entanglement.


"This is one of the missions our members love to be involved with, it's something that out of the ordinary," said Eric Roberts, with the U.S. Coast Guard.

First buoys were added to the lines and trailing debris to slow the whale down, then crews moved in. Getting as close as they could to the whale in danger without putting themselves in too much danger.
Rescue crews ended up using a pole to go fishing, but instead of trying to catch the whale, they were trying to hook the entangling gear.
Success would mean the young whale has a better chance at survival.
"We fall back and bid our time, letting the knife do its job and it took about 10 minutes for the knife to cut through," said David Schofield, with NOAA Fisheries Service.
Even though it had been dragging the hundreds of feet of line and gear for days, the young whale had no trouble taking off as soon it was free.
"All of a sudden, the buoys went still and the lines started to sink and there was jubilation and we could see the whales beating feet to get away from us. It was a good feeling," said Schofield.