North Atlantic right whale freed from fishing gear off Georgia coast

JEKYLL ISLAND, Ga. (WTOC) -A North Atlantic right whale was freed from fishing gear off the Georgia coast after a two-day rescue operation involving multiple agencies, including the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

The whale was discovered entangled in roughly 300 feet of fishing line wrapped around its head.

December is peak migration season, when the critically endangered animals travel to Georgia waters to give birth. With fewer than 400 North Atlantic right whales remaining worldwide, rescue efforts are vital to the species’ survival.

Coordinated rescue effort

Jessica Thompson, a senior wildlife biologist with the Georgia DNR Wildlife Conservation Section, and her team were conducting research when they received word from a Florida aerial survey team about the entangled whale.

“We immediately pivoted and headed in that direction,” Thompson said.

The team reached the whale an hour later, joining colleagues from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, NOAA and the Center for Coastal Studies who were already assessing photographs from the aerial survey.

The commercial fishing gear was wrapped around the whale’s body in two places. “One was going through, over the head and through the blowholes. And then the other was wrapped around the upper jaw,” Thompson said.

Two-day operation

The rescue team determined the whale could not free itself from the entanglement. Their first step was attaching a satellite telemetry buoy to relocate the whale the next day.

The aerial survey team circled for hours, directing the boat crew on when the whale would surface and how to safely approach it. As darkness fell, the team stopped operations for safety reasons.

On the second day, rescuers used a combat inflatable and attempted to cut the line with a 30-foot pole. When that failed, they attached a sea anchor and buoys to the trailing line to slow the whale, though this caused distress.

“It started doing lunges and half breeches and tail slaps, headstands,” Thompson said. “That whale was trying in many ways to shed that gear and it was still unsuccessful.”

Once the whale calmed down, the team successfully cut the line and freed the animal.

Ongoing threat

Entanglement in fishing gear is one of the main threats to North Atlantic right whales. About 85% of these whales become entangled at least once in their lifetime.

“The mere drag and weight added to an animal, even if it’s not wrapped around its head, if it’s wrapped around its flippers and fluked or the main part of the body, can add stress and just take a lot more energy to do their daily movements,” Thompson said.

The team recovered some of the fishing gear to help determine where the whale encountered it and address the root issue. “If there are ways that we could get to the root of the issue and try to remove this type of gear from areas where whales are foraging,” Thompson said.

Ropeless systems and gear that eliminate vertical lines can reduce entanglement risk, but these methods are not yet widely used by fishermen.