April 27, 2018 — The Center for Coastal Studies Marine Animal Entanglement Response team recently shot a “cutting arrow” at a rope around a whale to save the marine mammal from entanglement.
Two weeks ago the team got a report of an entangled right whale about three miles north of Provincetown.
The right whale was identified as a mature female, according to a statement from Center for Coastal Studies executive assistant Cathrine Macort.
“She was found with a tight wrap of very thick rope around her upper jaw and over the top of her rostrum (blow hole),” it stated. “There was no trailing line, so the usual technique of attaching buoys to the entanglement to slow the whale and keep it at the surface could not be utilized. Instead, responders used a cutting arrow fired from the deck of the rescue boat to damage the rope. The now-weakened line should deteriorate and be shed naturally over time.”
Researchers will continue to monitor the whale. It was originally seen in Stellwagon Bank, the 842-square-mile federally protected marine sanctuary.
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