A young humpback whale was freed from entanglement in fishing gear off the coast of Massachusetts on Sunday. The Provincetown-based Center for Coastal Studies said boaters spotted the “relatively small whale” struggling in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, which encompasses 842 square miles between Cape Ann and Cape Cod.
A young humpback whale was freed from entanglement in fishing gear off the coast of Massachusetts on Sunday. The Provincetown-based Center for Coastal Studies said boaters spotted the “relatively small whale” struggling in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, which encompasses 842 square miles between Cape Ann and Cape Cod. The Marine Animal Entanglement Response team responded and found the whale with rope around the base of its tail that was essentially anchoring it in place. The center said rescuers only had a short amount of time to act with storms in the forecast on Sunday evening. They used a hook-shaped knife at the end of a 30-foot pole to make a series of cuts to the rope – and it worked. The crew stayed with the whale until it was able to
